Among small housing markets, Jackson County ranks as the sixth least affordable area in the country, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Not good news for local cheapskates, but all the more reason to pinch pennies if you want to buy a home here. I do not own a house, and in fact, [...]
I cringe as I type the words “only $15 million,” but the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” won eight Oscars Sunday night on a budget of only $15 million. That’s one tenth of the $150 million budget for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the movie favored to win best picture. But all that money couldn’t guarantee [...]
I read an article in the New York Times today about do-it-yourself health care for the young and uninsured. Setting your own broken bones or borrowing expired antibiotics sounds pretty frugal to me, almost scarily frugal. And it’s a vast understatement to say that hospitals aren’t cheap — see the article for a girl who [...]
I saw Coraline — the new movie set in Ashland — over the weekend, and it got my cheapskate radar buzzing. You can see the movie in two dimensions in Ashland, but Tinseltown in Medford is one of the “select” theaters offering a 3-D version. For $2 more. (Not to mention the extra gas money [...]
The plan for today was to make a pizza potato to celebrate the end of the challenge, with tomato sauce, cheese and pizza toppings. Instead it morphed into just a vaguely Italian potato with vegetable marinara sauce and chicken strips, but it works. And that means I can finally stop eating potatoes and cheapskating will go back [...]
I have to admit I had low expectations for today’s potato, inspired by the can of chili left behind by a former roommate about 6 months ago. But it was surprisingly good, perhaps my favorite lunch of the week so far. I did cheat a little with those carrots on the side — the invisible [...]
Today’s potato took some inspiration from south of the border: black beans, corn, cheese and salsa. I didn’t make this up just for the challenge; I’ve been eating it for a few years after discovering that a baked potato was a whole lot faster to cook in the microwave than waiting around for 20 minutes [...]
Day two of the Baked Potato Challenge could be considered fusion food — leftover stir-fry with the all-American baked potato. I ran out of rice for my tofu and frozen veggies, so I thought why not use it as a potato topper? I spent a semester in college studying in China, where most people [...]
Day one of the challenge was a baked potato topped with broccoli, deli turkey and cheddar cheese. It was pretty tasty, I have to say, and very filling. It was also very American and not very exciting. I think tomorrow I will venture into Asian or Mexican cuisine. But that is enough about my lunch. [...]
I bought a 10-pound bag of potatoes last week for $1.48. Super cheap, but that means I have a lot of potatoes to eat. So…I am creating the Baked Potato Challenge. I plan to eat a baked potato for lunch every day next week without repeating a topping. Some of the unofficial rules: Each potato [...]
