Know What Items Go On Sale Each Month Of The Year

Knowing when to buy what items is the key to finding great bargains. Here are a list of items broken down by the month that they usually are the cheapest:

January

• Post-holiday sales
• Fall merchandise
• Furniture
• Rugs
• Computers and Televisions
• CDs and DVDs
• Cookware and small appliances
• Houses and condos
• Linens and bedding
• Swimwear
• Toys
• Treadmills exercise equipment
• Winter clothing

February

• Jewelry
• Perfumes
• Gift items
• Small consumer electronics
• Rugs
• House wares
• Humidifiers
• Indoor furniture
• Treadmills

March

• Wedding gifts
• Air conditioners and fans
• Washers and dryers
• Garden supplies
• Luggage
• China
• Computers
• Computers
• Humidifiers
• TVs
• Winter coats
• Winter sports gear

April

• Yard and garden supplies
• Bridal gowns
• Furniture
• Cruises
• Vacations
• Paint and wallpaper
• Digital cameras
• Spring clothing

May

• Gifts for Mom
• Jewelry
• Linens and Towels
• Furniture
• Cruises
• Home Maintenance Items
• Athletic Apparel and Shoes
• Cordless Phones
• Small Consumer Electronics

June

• Gifts for Dad
• Fishing and Camping Gear
• Men’s Cologne
• Televisions
• Building Materials
• Computers
• Indoor Furniture
• Small Electronics
• Summer Sports Gear
• Swimwear

July

• Air Conditioners
• Summer Items
• School Supplies
• School Clothes
• Summer Sports Equipment
• Computers
• Indoor Furniture
• Outdoor Furniture
• Swimwear

August

• School Supplies
• End of Summer Clothing (Bathing Suits and Sandals)
• Linens and Towels
• Camping Equipment
• Computers
• Dehumidifiers/Air Conditioners
• Lawn Mowers
• Outdoor Furniture

September

• Summer Clothes
• Outdoor Grills
• Lawn Furniture
• Housewares
• Bikes
• Computers
• Shrubs, Trees, Perennials
• Small Consumer Electronics

October

• Winter Wear (Winter Coats, Gloves, Scarves)
• Last Year’s Car models (Purchase last day or end of the month for better negotiations)
• Fishing Equipment
• Houses/condos
• Crystal
• Silver
• Glassware
• Bikes
• Digital Cameras
• Gas Grills

November

• Houses/Condos
• Quilts and Blankets
• Space Heaters
• Baby Products
• Bikes
• Computers
• Gas Grills
• Toys

December

• Clothing
• Appliances
• Gifts
• Wrapping Paper
• Holiday Cards
• Other Holiday Items
• Bikes
• Computers
• Gas Grills
• Small Consumer Electronics
• Toys
• TVs

Frugal Tips For Bargain Shopping

If you have experience being frugal, you may already have a good idea when to shop for Spring and Summer merchandise. Usually the Spring items go into the clearance section in June and the summer items end up in the clearance section in July and August.

If you can save and plan in advance you can get some great deals in the months listed above. Remember when things are in high demand the prices are usually very high but when the demand is lower (say the end of the season) items drop in price!

Strategies For Bargain Shopping Online

If you like to shop online year-round. You can usually find deals at:  Overstock.com, SmartBargains.com and Pricegrabber.com. Don’t forget promotional codes when you shop online. Use a search engine (such as google) and type in “promotional code” or “coupon code for (your store here)”. Usually you can find a free shipping or some sort of a discount that you can use at the checkout by trying this technique.

How To Plan For Your Family Home Vacation

The most important step to having a successful home vacation is balance. Schedule a mix of activities and/or home projects so your time off spent at home doesn’t feel like your normal time spent at home. Mix in days of sleeping in and relaxing with days spent going out and visiting local attractions, or a day trip.

It doesn’t have to necessarily be right in your back yard either, if you live relativley close to a major city, it’s worth the drive to spend a nice relaxing day enjoying spots that most tourists would kill to see. Most of the time we are not able to fully enjoy these local treasures because either a.) we live close to them or b.) we’re just too busy to visit them.

Here is a great site that allows you to look for any local attractions in your area that you may have missed: Find Local Attractions In Every City In The U.S

Plan Meals That Are Special

Get creative with your meals, you don’t need to eat out to do this. Have themed dinner nights, stay in and make Chinese that tastes as good as your local take out. You can even get more exotic and cook Spanish food one night, make tapas and paellas with drinks that are enjoyed in spain.  Bring the culture into your own home, you will have a blast learning how to cook new things, and it’s great to share with your family.

Accomplish Something While You’re Off

It may sound strange to pursue that home improvement project you’ve been putting off during your vacation time, but commonly these projects can be stress relievers. You don’t have to worry about getting the job done within a tight time frame, you will have other fun activities surrounding your project and you can feel a great sense of accomplishment on your own terms.

This time off can be great to start a garden, organizing and cleaning your house, or even having a garage sale to make some money.

8 Ideas To Enjoy Your Home Vacation

• Borrow or Rent a Movie - Don’t be afraid to go against the norm on this one. Go out and rent an old black and white movie and introduce the kids to the glory days of the silver screen. Or, find a new release that you know the whole family will enjoy. Put in some popcorn, dim the lights and treat it like your own in-house movie theater.
• Turn off the Outside World - Treat it as if it were a real vacation. Don’t check your e-mail and let most friends and co-workers know that you will be pretty much “unavailable” during this time.
• Try Backyard Camping – Set up a tent and campfire in your backyard (if permissible) and enjoy the comfort of your own home right next to you! Do all the things you would normally do on a camping trip, roast marshmallows, playing songs, tell ghost stories by the fire, etc.
• Have a Game Day – Pull out your trusty card and board games. It’s relaxing and brings your family closer together. Even introduce new games that you think your kids will enjoy, a great chance for the whole family to connect.
• Take a Free Tour – If you have any historic sites near your house, chances are, they offer free (or very inexpensive tours.) Take this opportunity to educate you and your children on the local attractions your town or city has to offer.
• Put Yourself In The Mindset of a Tourist – This really helps, especially in the planning stages. Create a list of local places you’d like to visit with an objective point of view. Visit some of the links below for great sites to help plan your trip.
• Take Advantage of Any Special Deals – Keep your eyes peeled for local promotions and deals that might be going on. Some tourist attractions will lower their prices during the off-season, this would be a great time for you to take advantage of a family home vacation.
• Visit The Beach – This tip will only work if you’re coastal, but the beach is one of the best free vacation spots to visit it, and if you live near one, take advantage of it! Plan a BBQ, play frisbee, show the kids how to boogie board. There is plenty of free fun to be had at the beach.

• How To Share The Joys Of Being Frugal With Your Family
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Old Blue Jeans

Make coin purses out of the pockets for kids. Remove two pockets from pants, sew a zipper across the top, and stitch the sides together.

Old Credit Cards

Make several guitar picks from one card. Make softer picks from milk jug plastic or plastic lids.

Film Canisters

Poke holes in the bottoms to make salt and pepper shakers for lunch boxes or camping trips.

Junk Mail

Save any large colored pieces of paper, such as the plain brochure, for future art projects.

Old Shower Curtains

Make baby bibs. Clean and sterilize. Sew on bias tape for neck strings. Fold up bottom, sew to make a food-catcher pocket.

Worn Out Towels and Wash Cloths

A worn out towel can be cut lengthwise into strips to make a back washer. Washcloths can be cut in quarters to make reusable “handwipes” or “baby wipes.” Store damp in a plastic bag when traveling.

Pickle Juice

1. Use in marinade or create your own salad dressing.
2. Sweet Pickled Chops. Arrange four chops in a shallow pan and sprinkle with salt. Place a slice on onion and a tablespoon of ketchup on the top of each. Pour 1/2 cup of sweet pickle juice around chops. Cover and bake for 1 hour at 350°.

A Half-Eaten Apple

Cut off the remaining good parts and save to make an individual apple crisp. To make crumb mixture combine 1 Teaspoon each of brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and margarine. Add a dash of cinnamon. Top apples and microwave.

Lead By Example

Everyone knows it’s a good idea to practice what you preach, so set good examples for your family. Show your children and your spouse that it’s not hard to be frugal – in fact – it can usually be less stressful. Some people associate being frugal with constantly cutting corners and major sacrifices. By being creative with your budget, and making it a point to be obvious about what you’re doing to help save the family money, you’re showing them that life isn’t that scary under the banner of frugality.

Knowledge Is Power, Knowledge Is Fun

Don’t feel any shame in sharing books or websites with your family about this subject (hey…you made it here, didn’t you?) Show them all of the fun things that they might have never seen otherwise. The more they learn about the topic, the better chance they have of becoming genuinely involved with leading a frugal lifestyle. If you are good at tracking your expenses, share with your spouse exactly how your frugal ways have saved you so much money. Explain in detail what you’ve done differently to help reduce any excessive spending.

How To Share The Gift Of Frugal With Your Kids

Younger children are usually open to newer things, they might not grasp the concept of frugality yet, but involving them with fun homemade arts and crafts projects or even letting them help you shop are great ways to let them enjoy being frugal without even knowing it.

As for teens, some trends have been showing lately that being frugal is “cool”. Some studies have gone as far as saying some teens even think it’s tacky in this economy to walk around carrying a big tote bag with a designer logo across it. This is a great approach and angle to take with your teen. Let them know the joys you’ve experienced being frugal. Frugality breeds creativity, and if your teen is the creative type there is no better way than to get involved in making or altering clothes and helping make homemade meals.

There are wonderful life lessons to be learned by leading the frugal lifestyle, and sharing them with your children is a great step to reinforce why you’ve chosen this lifestyle, and a great way to pass down good spending habits you may have learned over the years.

You Can Still Have A Good Time, Even When You’re Frugal

Plan fun, entertaining nights on a budget. Plan a movie night where you can pick up a movie from the library, or even possibly free, and take turns on who picks the movie each week. Learn more about the inexpensive local events that might be going on around your house. Consider a weekend camping at a local park. There are plenty of ways for you and your family to enjoy great moments together without having to spend a lot of money.

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Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Yields: 1 1/3 Cups

• 3/4 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon of sweet pickle relish or finely chopped sweet pickle
• 2 Tablespoons of chili sauce of ketchup
• 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped green bell pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped onion
• 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1/2 Teaspoon of granulated sugar
• 1/3 Teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 hard-cooked egg (chopped)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl except the egg. Stir in the chopped egg last. Refrigerate.

Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing

Yields: 2 cups

• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons of finely chopped green onions (tops only)
• 1/4 Teaspoon of onion powder
• 2 Teaspoons of minced parsley
• 1/4 Teaspoon of garlic powder or 1/2 to 1 garlic clove (finely minced)
• 1/4 Teaspoon of paprika
• 1/8 Teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon of black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate.

Homemade Sweet Tomato-y French Dressing

Yields: 2 cups

This is for fans of Catalina dressing.

• 2/3 cup of ketchup
• 1/2 cup of sugar (or to taste)
• 2/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
• salt to taste
• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic (or 1 to 2 teaspoons)
• 2 Tablespoons of finely minced onion

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake. This can also be mixed in a blender, although the color becomes creamier rather than translucent. If preparing in a blender, mix all ingredients except onion. Stir in finely mixed onion by hand. Refrigerate.

Homemade Cucumber-Buttermilk Dressing

Yields: 1/4 cups

• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1/4 cup of grated cucumber
• 2 Tablespoons of minced green onions (white and green parts)
• 1 Tablespoon of Dijon-style mustard
• 2 Teaspoons of minced fresh parsley
• 2 Teaspoons of lemon juice
• 1/4 Teaspoon of dried dill
• 1/4 Teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients into a small bowl with a tight lid. Stir or shake well. Refrigerate.

Homemade Italian Vinaigrette Dressing

Yields: 1 quart

• 1/2  cup of red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups of olive oil or vegetable oil (or a combination)
• 2 large cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 3/4 Teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon of minced parsley
• 1 Teaspoon of dry mustard
• 1/2 Teaspoon of dried basil or oregano

Combine all of the ingredients in a large jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Refrigerate.

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Yields: 1 1/2 quarts

This recipe makes a large quantity and is very strong. For die-hard blue cheese lovers only.

• 1 Quart (4 cups) of mayonnaise
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1 cup of small-curd cottage cheese
• 1 Teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1 Teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1 Teaspoon of salt
• 4 ounces of Roquefort or blue cheese (crumbled)

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl except crumbled cheese. Mix with electric mixer. Stir in crumbled cheese with a fork. Refrigerate.

Determine What Colors Work Best

There is a book called “Color Me Beautiful” and we highly recommend you pick it up. It is written by Carole Jackson, and it takes a very unique approach as to how different colors of clothing look on people.

Carole groups her color types into “seasons”, (winter, spring, summer and fall.) Whatever season you fall under depends on your hair and eye color as well as skin tone and color. Her system is known as “color draping” and it was devised from taking many different colors of fabric and draping them over various people’s shoulders to see what colors went best with them.

Certain colors will look good on one person, but terrible on another. Once you’ve gone through and found out what “season” you are, it may lead you to eliminate that excess clothing in your closet, this way you can begin looking for clothing with a better idea of what colors best suit you, as well as a closet with more space.

Only Keep Clothes You Will Wear

Find your best color palette and stick to it. For example, I wear red, brown, black, maroon, green and white. I know these colors work best on me, so I usually only fill my closet with these colors. This allows for no wasted space in the closet, and i’m never constantly looking for clothes to wear.

How To Begin Building Your Wardrobe

Don’t be afraid to start with the basics. Limiting yourself to only a few colors and styles can give you a mix and match system that can achieve a surprising number of pleasing results. Start off with a lot of neutral colors (some examples include; navy, black, khaki) for the foundation of your wardrobe.

When buying different bottoms (skirts, slacks, jeans, etc) always make sure they’re all a similar color. Stick with the basic colors for these. There is nothing worse than buying those bright orange sweat pants you thought looked cool on their own, but don’t go with anything else in your closet!

When you have a solid foundation of neutural colors, it makes it much easier to accent with a wider variety of colors. Prints are also very hard to match, so if you can, try to use them very sparingly, if at all.

Add To Your Wardrobe In Small Increments

Create a list and post it into your closet. Any items that may be missing out of your wardrobe can be easily added when there is any easy to read list with all those must have items you need. Don’t be in a hurry, you will spend more money if you go out and buy all at once.

How To Shop Smarter For Clothes

1. Smaller Thrift Stores – Go thrift store hunting, find a couple that you think have a regular assortment of threads that you know work best for you (friendly staff, good bargains, quality clothing.) Write them down, and make it a regular habit to visit these places. Due to an overwhelming level of consumerism, more than ever thrift stores are loaded with high-quality articles of clothing that have only been worn a few times.
2. Larger Thrift Stores – Stores like the DAV, Salvation Army and Goodwill are also great places to look for bargains on clothes. These tend to be a bit more organized than the smaller thrift stores, which can make shopping less of a headache. Although the amount of quality items may be a little less here, it is still worth it to dig through and potentially come up on that gem. Just make sure you wash all of your clothes when you get home.
3. Consignment Stores – Search online or check out the yellow pages for a good consignment store in your area. There are tens of thousands of people consigning clothes and housewares at some of these stores. The used clothing departments especially have improved dramatically over the last few years.
4. Discount Retailers - If you’ve exhausted your resources with the above mentioned stores, check out places like Ross or Marshall’s. Double your finds with coupons and you have a decent clothes at a real bargain.
5. Garage Sales - The reason this is last on our list is due to the fact that it does take a lot of time and effort to even find one good piece of clothing. There are rare occasions where you will find just exactly what you’re looking for, but unless you have hours and hours of free time every time, this method is usually a last resort.

What About The Shoes?

This one largely depends on your style, but just like with jeans, skirts and slacks, keep these fairly neutral for the most part. Brown, navy, blacks usually work very well. We recommend you avoid buying excessive amounts of white shoes, as these will get dirty much easier, and costs to clean them will quickly become more expensive then the shoes themselves.

In order to keep your shoes looking their best, we recommend you keep them on a shoe tree. This way your shoe will keep it’s shape and avoid any creases.

How To Avoid Dry Cleaning Costs

The best way to avoid dry cleaning costs is to simply stay away from articles of clothing that require it. Even though you may find that dress at a thrift or consignment store, if it is not machine or hand-washable, avoid it. Not only does it cost extra money to bring your clothes to the dry cleaner, but it also takes up a lot of time to drop it off and pick up your clothes.

If you do need clothes for business that do require dry-cleaning, just make sure that you put money aside in your expenses for this.

Avoid The Trends, Stay Classic

We all know that what was in yesterday is already out today in the world of fashion. If you’re constantly having to keep up with the latest fashions, you are doing yourself a huge disservice by spending much more than you need to.

There are a lot of great quotes that illustrate being thrifty as bringing out the creative side in you, let this ring true for your clothing options! There is nothing wrong with staying with classic selections. Some things never go out of style, (Chuck Taylor converse, anyone?) Find great deals on things that fit your style the best, but also have a timeless feel as well.

If you do want to keep up with the latest trends, but still economize, it’s a good idea to stay trendy with accesories. Earrings, socks, belts, purses, scarves, hats, it’s much better to spend $10 on a really fun, in-style accesory than $200 on that new dress by Diane von Furtstenberg.

T-Mobile Pre Paid Plan

Detailed Information on Plans

Lowest Priced Phone: Nokia 2760 at $19.99 (Prepaid Phone)

T-mobile’s plan is a bit pricier than the others, but if you’re looking to go with one of the bigger cell phone companies, in terms of pre paid phones, i’ve had the best experience with T-Mobile. Their plans are cheap and their service is very reliable.

Benefits:

• Like many other pre-paid phones, there is no credit check.
• Good information on pre-paid starter kits.
• Offers a T-Mobile Sidekick Option (more expensive, but better phone)
• Nationwide long distance.
• Nationwide Roaming.
• Free e-mail address.

Tracphone

Detailed Information on Plans

Lowest Priced Phone: Motorola W175 at $9.99

The kings of cheap pre-paid cell phone plans, great support, great service, competitive pricing. Tracphone also offers great family value plans. The first Phone has 50 minutes a month at $9.99. Each additional phone gets 30 minutes a mont for only $5.99.

Benefits:

• Great reputation as being America’s #1 prepaid service provider.
• Lots of experience (not a new upstart company) they have been around since 1996.
• Like many prepaid companies, no bills, no contracts, you have more control.
• Adding minutes is a very painless process with Tracphone.
• A good deal to think about is getting 800 minutes for only $100 a year.
• Good for someone who only needs their cell phones for emergencies.

Kajeet – Cell Phones Made for Kids

Detailed Information On Plans

Lowest Priced Phone: Motorola C290 at $16.99

A brilliant idea, cheap cell phones for kids! Plenty of great features geared just towards your kids. These are definitely the best “kid-oriented” phones i’ve come across.

Benefits:

• Great option for your kids
• Lots of parental controls
• Set limits for texting and call time
• Block certain texts with ContactManager.
• Some phones offer a GPS locator.
• Great way to teach kids responsibility.
• Talk, text and play, the freedom your kids love and want.
• Pay as you go service with no strings attatched.

Net-10

Detailed Information on Plans

Lowest Priced Phone: Motorola C139 for $19.99

Tracphone’s sister company, some great incentives for signing up here. They have a fantastic offer where if you activate a plan, you will receive 300 minutes and 60 days of service.

Benefits:

• Phones Start at $19.99.
• One offer comes with 300 minutes and 60 days of service when activated.
• Displays minutes on the phone so you can keep track of how many minutes you’re talking.
• Very easy process to buy minutes online.

Cheap Phone Cards

A great resource for pre-paid cell phone cards is at http://www.cheapphonecards.com. They offer a 3% discount, as well as no tax. Can be bought at $10, $25, or $50 at a time. You don’t have to worry about a per minute charges. Once your time is up, it’s up, so there is no way of going over.

Rand McNally – Plan A Road Trip

If you’re planning on taking a road trip, this is the place to start. You can name your roadtrip, save it, and use it as a great organizational tool. Once you’ve planned your trip and saved it, you can access directions, weather predictions and even write your own notes!

Info Hub – Specialty Travel Guide

Get inspired to travel places here. You can choose a destination based on a category (i.e Hiking, Hunting, Arts & Crafts), and plan your whole vacation around it. Also, check out their great article section for information you won’t find anywhere else when it comes to travel.

Frugal RV Travel

For all things RV Travel. If you’re planning on driving your RV across country, this is not a site you want to miss. Tons of free information on where to find camping spots, how to choose an RV and even tips for how to repair your RV. Not to be missed.

National Park Service

The official website for everything national parks. If you plan on going for a more outdoors orienting vacation, this is a great place to start. Find national parks near you and learn their history. When you’ve chosen a park you’d like to visit, you can even plan your visit through this site.

Bidding For Travel

I found this site through clarkhoward.com, this is a website who’s primary goal is to promote informaed bidding when using priceline.com’s Travel products. I’ve had a lot of luck using this website, and it’s helped save me up to half of what i’d normally spent.

• 10 Tips to help you save money on your next camping trip
• How To Save Money At The Grocery Store

These tips will work no matter where you live. There are always alternative methods for keeping cool and staying warm. Use these ideas as a starting point for researching alternative cost-saving methods for the region in which you live.

Cost Effective Alternatives To Cooling

1. Fans. An obvious and relatively cheap alternative, portable fans  and ceiling fans can provide plenty of air movement which will allow your thermostat to be set a few degrees higher. Ceiling fans are a very cost effective way to save money in the long run. A basic ceiling fan will cost about  $30, while installation is about $30-$50. If you want to install the fan yourself, here is a great article: How to Install a Ceiling Fan from doityourself.com
2. Evaporative Coolers. If you live in an area with low humidity it is a good idea to invest in an evaporative cooler. These units cost 66% less to run than conventional central air. Also known as “Swamp Coolers” The way they work is by drawing outside air over moistened pads and blowing the cooled air into the house. You can find a variety of evaporative coolers here: Evaporative coolers at NexTag.
3. UpDux. These are vents that move some of the cool air in your house up into the attic. These work great in combination with an evaporative cooler (see above.) These keep the house more comforatable, because they allow air to circulate through the entire house. Also, by cooling the attic considerably, it will affect the temperature of the whole house. You can find UpDux for only about $20 each.
4. Upgrading Your Equipment. An old central air conditioning unit that requires regular repairs needs to be replaced. It makes much more economic sense to upgrade from a 10+ year old system to a more modern and energy efficient model. Energy star rated units are your best bet, as the EPA recommends these. These units can reduce your cooling costs up to 20%.
5. Programmable Thermostats. Costing between $50 and $150, these hi-tech thermostats will allow you to manage your energy usage much more efficiently. If you leave your house for long periods throughout the day, a programmable thermostat is a good choice. The beauty of a programmable thermostat is that you can to set it to automatically rise to 82 degrees at 8am, then when everyone gets home, it can be set to automatically lower to 78 degrees at 5 or 6pm.

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Cheap Alternatives To Staying Warm

1. Use Your Fireplace. It’s surprising how many people forget to use their fireplace during the winter. We understand that wood can be an extra cost, but if you stay on the lookout you can always find neighbors or landscaping crews always throwing out old wood.
2. Water Heater Jackets. These nifty covers that insulate your water heater are inexpensive and very easy to install. You can find them at your local hardware store for only about $20. Read more about them here: Energy Savers – Insulate Your Water Heater Tank for Energy Savings.
3. Wear Layers. Beanies. Thick Socks. Blankets. These are all great ideas to let you bundle up for the winter. Some people may be able to swallow this tip easier than others, but getting cozy in multiple layers is a great trick to keep that thermostat lower.
4. Have A Gas Line Run To Your House. This can be an expensive process, but if you’re planning in staying at your house for 30+ years, you can start to see major savings with this tip in 8-10 years. It may come as a surprise to some, but electrical heating is much more expensive than gas heating.

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General Tips For Saving Money On Heating And Cooling

1. Install Self-Closing Hinges On Doors. If you have kids, you probably know that they can be especially notorious for leaving doors open.Don’t let any of your cool air or heat escape by installing self-closing hinges. You could see a significant difference on your next bill.
2. Invest In Good Insulation. If you have thin/cheap insulation, expect to pay much more for heating and cooling. Spend the time to research your current insulation set up, and find some quality insulation that will last a long time. This is especially important for attics.
3. Close Vents In Rooms That Don’t Get Used. You will air conditioning or heat if you leave vents open in unoccupied rooms. Everyone knows you’re supposed to close all the windows when running the air conditioning or heating, but it’s equally important to not let it waste into empty rooms, as well.

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Please comment any ideas, stories or tips you may have when it comes to saving money on your Cooling or Heating bills.

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Homemade Pizza Sauce

Yields: 7 Quarts

I make this sauce with fresh tomatoes and peppers grown in the garden. The spices come cheap from a health food store and we always pick up the tomato paste on sale. If you don’t have the advantage of your own garden, you can probably just double up on coupons and buy store bought sauce. Also, it doesn’t hurt to ask friends or relatives with a garden for surplus supplies.

• 12 Onions
• 6 Green Peppers
• 1½ cups of Vegetable Oil
• 1½ Teaspoons of Black Pepper
• 36 Tomatoes, skinned
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 3 Tablespoons of Salt
• 4 Tablespoons of Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons each: oregano, sweet basil, and thyme
• 12 bay leaves
• 5 12-ounce cans of tomato paste

Directions:

1. Grind (as you would with a meat grinder) onions and peppers, and simmer in vegetable oil. Add black pepper.
2. In a large pot, place tomatoes, garlic, salt, sugar, herbs, and onion-pepper mixture. Bring to a good rolling boil.
3. Add tomato paste last, one can at a time. Pour into canning jars and process in a pressure cooker for 25 minutes. Sauce can be frozen.

Thick And Chewy Pizza Dough

Bread dough made in a food processor requires no hand kneading. (A food processor is, in my opinion, one of the most valuable tightwad tools.)

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of warm water (105º to 115º F)
• 1 package (1 tablespoon) of dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

1. Combine 1/4 cup of the water with the yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the year, and let stand until bubbly, about five minutes.
2. Put the flour, oil, and salt into a food processor, and process about five seconds with a steel blade. Add the yeast mixture, and process for about 10 seconds, or until blended.
3. Turn on the processor and drizzle just enough of the remaining water through the feed tube so the dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl. Process so that the ball turns around about 25 times. Put the dough ball onto a 14 inch greased pizza pan or large cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or a blow, and let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Pat the dough out so that it covers the pan, leaving a ridge on the edges. (Or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, spin the dough in the air a few times.) Spread with pizza sauce and add cheese and toppings (Olives, Pepperoni, etc.)
5. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.

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