Tight wad gazette (merged)

Gingham_Ribbon

I dip into mine often and have bought it for friends. It completely changed how I think about money, how to do my bit for the environment, and how I use my time. It has influenced my life more than any other book I've read. And this site is helping me keep on track.

There are a lot of American things in it, but it can all be applied here if you use the principles rather than the exact examples.

HOLsale

raeble wrote:

Yes but after you've spent over £10 on a book it would have taken much for them to have included an extra sheet with a conversion chart.


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i got round that one easy enough... simply compared a few conversion charts online then wrote them all down inside the back of the book

i also found the recipe for refrigerator dough that she mentions a few times and wrote that inside the book :T

catznine

I love my copy of this book! There is an article in the book where the author works out the hourly rate of savings for many of the money saving activities like making hm pizzas ($48), or making jam ($15) cutting childs hair ($12) etc.,

I don't have a problem with the recipes now that I have invested in some american cup measures, most of the supermarkets sell these now. I only wish I had found this book when my own children were smaller.

thriftlady_2

HOLsale wrote:

i also found the recipe for refrigerator dough that she mentions a few times and wrote that inside the book :T

Oooh,could you post that recipe Holsale? I'd love to try that out - cinnamon rolls for breakfast,my kids wolud love that

calleyw

I think the TG is rather like this forum YOU pick and choose what bits/hints/tips you want to do.

And I am sure she said that in the book somewhere. Yes, some of her ideas are a little bit on the extreme side. But she has 6 children and has a huge house with an attached barn (that bit is very important) and she was a SAHM.

And with the help of the TG it meant they where able to have a more comfortable retirement.

I am not really sure it was ever meant for an international audience that is why nothing was done to make it more international. But then saying that would you expect books like US recipes books to be converted. No I would not as that as the market they where intended for. Not for us else where.

I was lucky I managed to get amazon vouchers so never paid for the book.

But as I said before I think a lot of it is about ways of thinking and the mind set rather than the actual tips or what she did to save money.

Yours


Calley

thriftlady_2

My new hardback copy of the TG has just arrived :j It is slightly smaller than the paperback but a lot more robust.I shall keep the old copy for bathtime reading

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

Oooh,could you post that recipe Holsale? I'd love to try that out - cinnamon rolls for breakfast,my kids wolud love that

sure thing!

Potato Refrigerator Dough

1 tbsp dry yeast (or 1pkt)
1 1/2 C warm water (lukewarm)
1C Unseasoned mashed potato
2/3 C Sugar
2/3 C Butter or Margerine
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsps salt
6-7 C flour

disolve yeast in warm water, stir in potatoes sugar, butter, eggs salt and 3 cups of flour. beat til smooth. then mix in enough flour to make a dough easy to handle
turn on to lightly floured surface and ,knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes) place in a greased bowl making sure that the top of the dough gets lightly greased as well.
cover bowl tightly and refrigerate AT LEAST 8 hours but NO LONGER than 5 days. Bake at 400F (200C/Gas Mark 6)

simply take as much dough as you want at one go, this makes enough to bake quite a few things during the course of the week.


this is the recipe from the cookbook she mentions (can't remember off hand, think it's the betty crocker recipe book) so it's 'the real thing' so to speak :T

HOLsale

just thought i'd point out that potatoes in the refrigerator dough are what make it stay pliant and moist over the course of the 5 days so don't be tempted to skimp or omit them altogether

i would love to make this more often but we rarely eat mashed potato so i'd have to make it special

still, i have a box of smash that needs using up... i think i've used it before for this and it worked so i'll give it a try and report back

thriftlady_2

Thanks Holsale :T ,do you think the eggs are vital? my dd is allergic to them.I find eggs in bread more of an enriching ingredient than vital to the success of the recipe,what do you think?

Austin_Allegro

I found Mrs Dacyzyn's book while on holiday to the US in '96 and it's what started me on the road to frugality! At the time I thought there was something odd about me and it was nice to know that other tightwads existed. It's true that a lot of her stuff is very US-biased, and much of it is superceded now online by sites like the Dollar Stretcher (and this one of course). That said, it's a kind of 'old testament' of frugality. It's fascinating to just dip into, I especially like the little homilies against obsessive consumerism and debt. I do get the impression that she takes things a bit too far - I mean, using newspaper to wrap children's presents, come on! We all know that brightly coloured wallpaper oddments from DIY shops is what you should use! I also get the feeling, like some other posters, that she is too harsh and her children may reject this lifestyle. I certainly get the impression her husband Jim would probably like to get drunk and roll around naked in a pile of money while she's out of the house on one of her yard sale trips, just to relieve the endless tightwadding!