A Home Library

My article "A Home Library" is on the front page of stretcher.com this week:

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08oct27d.cfm

Baking at Home

My article "Baking at Home" will be on the front page of stretcher.com starting 10/13/2008.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08oct13f.cfm

Building a Library

Sold to the print edition of the Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights available.

The article outlines a master plan for building an inexpensive library. It begins:

So you want to build a library without spending a fortune?

Fresh off the press, books are expensive. The good news is, you don'thave to pay list price for many of them and if you are seeking tobuild up a library you have many avenues to explore.

If you are going to build a library for less it helps to start with aplan. You will come across many interesting titles while browsing andmay be tempted to buy a lot of stuff that would be better suited forborrowing from the library--if you will read it only once, check itout rather than paying for it with your checkbook.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Baking at Home

Sold to the print edition of the Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights available.

This article hightlights four simple items you can learn to make at home to save $ off your grocery bill. It begins:

In general, food that is more processed will cost more money at thegrocery store. Thus, typically you would pay less for the rawingredients to create bread than you would for bread. Sales andcouponing can help you save money on baked goods, but knowing how tocook a few things from scratch can be of value when sales aren't thegreatest or you hit a time when you must minimize household spending.

In this article, we will look at a few simple things you can learn tomake from raw ingredients to save money off your grocery bill.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Pennywise Choices for School Fundraisers

My article "Pennywise choices for school fundraisers" is on the Dollar Stretcher's front page starting on 9/8/2008.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08sep08g.cfm

Holiday Shopping

Sold to the print edition of the Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights available.

This article outlines strategy for holiday shopping in January. It begins:

It's the day after Christmas and you're a savvy holiday shopper. Where will we find you? At the store, of course. You probably took care of most of this year's shopping last January. Now it's time to plan for next year. If you do the shopping now (and have the storage space), you can save substantially on next year's gifts and decorations.

So let's talk holiday planning in January. You are going to need strategy. This article outlines five pointers for maximizing the January shopping potential.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Book Review: First Stop in the New World

My review of David Lida's First Stop in the New World is now available here at the Internet Review of Books.

School Fundraisers and Coupons

Sold to the print edition of the Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights available.

This article highlights a few common school fundraiser options that would be of interest to a family that uses couponing. It begins:

If you have school-aged children of your own or if your acquaintances have school-aged children, it is probably only a matter of time before you will be hit with a deluge of fund-raising pitches. It is not reasonable for you to shell out for every plea that comes along but ifyou choose carefully, and especially if you use coupons or are willingto start, you can find fundraising choices that can help the school AND help your wallet.

The best example of this is the Entertainment Book. Available in most areas, the book is a fat collection of stores that want to give you a discount. For a long time I held off on buying the Entertainment Book.Why should I spend money to get a discount? And then slowly I grew wiser.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Treasure Hunt Map and Key

Sold to the print edition of Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights are available for purchase.

This article outlines how to get a pass that will admit you to hundreds of museums for the cost of one museum's membership. It begins:

Have you gone to your local museum lately? Perhaps you've been offered a membership but have done the math and realized you might not attend the same museum the four to ten times in one year it would take to make the investment worth it.

There is a small item in the fine print of many museum membership packages that might make a membership pay off well for you.

It is called a reciprocal list.

A "reciprocal list" is a perk many organizations offer to sweeten a membership deal. It works like this:

Take, for example, a children's museum. The Las Vegas Lied Children's Museum belongs to the Association of Science Technology Centers (ASTC) and the Association of Children's Museums Institutions. The Lied participates in the reciprocal programs for both these organizations. When you purchase a membership to the Lied, you will be issued a card bearing the logos of the ASTC and the Association of Children's Museums Institutions. You will also be given a copy of the reciprocal list. The list is your treasure map and the card is your key to the wealth of great experiences available at participating museums.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

de-liberacy: "Chocolate for Valentine's"

Becca Gaffron at de-liberacy asked me to contribute a food essay to her blog. The essay wound up being about Valentine's Day so she asked if she could hold it and run it today, on her anniversary.

Here is the essay: http://www.felldesign.com/rebecca/?p=54

While you are there, you might enjoy poking around her blog a bit. Her writing is delicious and leisurely.

How to Build a Coupon Binder in 10 Easy Steps

Sold to Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights are now available for purchase.

This article outlines how to build an organized three-ring coupon binder. It begins:

You may have seen one around: the three-ring coupon binder.

Though heftier than the standard coupon holder, mine routinely trims my grocery bill and substantially cuts down my shopping time. Rather than hiding in pockets I must dig through, the coupons are laid out before me on laminated pages. I can easily scan the page to see which coupons are available.

Want to build a coupon binder yourself? Here's how to start.

First, assemble equipment. Three items are essential: a three-ringed binder, tabbed dividers, and nine-pocket baseball-card holders. The baseball-card holders look like a plastic sheet protector that can be inserted into a binder. The face of one side is divided into nine pockets that are the perfect size to hold most coupons. Larger coupons can be folded and tucked in. The nine-pocket baseball-card holders can be purchased at hobby stores that sell trading cards or over the internet.

Second, go to your favorite grocery store and make a list of the aisle names. Decide based on the aisle names and what your family buys what you'll choose for your tab names. For ease of shopping, try to make the tabs roughly in synch with how you walk through your store.

Full text available at http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08jun23f.cfm
For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Pen Pricks: "The circle of life on my hillside"

The circle of life on my hillside. Published May 1, 2008.

Read it here:

http://tinyurl.com/5cxckv