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Saw this on boingboing. Mindwebs was a Madison, Wisconsin (PBS maybe? aren’t they big there?) radio program that dramatized (sorta) science fiction stories. I’m betting these would be perfect for the old MP3 player.

Can’t beat that- free stories, professionally done.

Link

It looks like competing advocacy groups are entering the frugality debate over the wisdom of using cloth napkins vs. paper paper products according to the Star-Telegram.

Earth911.org claims that napkin and paper towels cost a family of four approximately $260/year and an unspecified use of natural resources.

New American Dream, a consumer/simplify group in D.C. questions whether the savings would reach that amount, but does offer some tips if you go that route, such as buying organic cloth napkins, washing in cold water, and line drying.

Then the Star-Telegram pulled in a money editor at Suite101.com, an online article site, to attest to her experience in saving $8-$10 the first month of switching to cloth napkins.

My take on the issue: by the time you pay for the napkins and run repeated laundry loads every month, it seems like whatever savings that accrue are probably not worth it. Not only am I jealous of my time, but I dislike doing laundry. My main goal in living a frugal lifestyle is so that I can eventually gain the freedom to do the things I want to do instead of the things I must do.

The newspaper article did turn over a new stone for me becauseI checked out Suite101.com,  which happens to be a website hiring freelance writers. I’d rather explore the possibility of getting a freelance writing job and earning an extra few bucks than spend it laundering my napkins, but to each his own.

Becoming a subject matter expert and conveying that expertise is easier now than it has ever been in the history of mankind. The interweb enables both the learning and conveying of knowledge.

The Self Made Scholar is a site that gives you some of the tools you may needto become knowledgeable in a field. For example, it provides links to free online classes grouped by subject area (The site is actually called Self Made Scholar: Directory of Free Online Classes and Free Online Courses).

More importantly, in my view, the Self Made Scholar website contains valuable advice on defining your education goals and turning those goals into reality. For example, choosing concrete, rather than generic, goals is stressed:

Ineffective Goal – Learn HTML
Effective Goal – Create several websites using HTML, referring only minimally to a coding book.

Ineffective Goal – Learn about American literature.
Effective Goal – Identify and read 100 classic American novels, memorize the major time periods in American literature, and be able to discuss major American authors.

The site goes on the emphasize other aspects such as collecting materials, making connections, and then finally taking action. The post Create Your Own Independent Scholar Research Plan is worth a look on its own merits.

As with all learning, be sure to examine your sources because I noticed that some of the classes offered were better than others.

The 98th Festival of Frugality is up at Being Frugal. My interview with Carl Weathers is posted there. Carl wasn’t happy with the post placement and threatened to sue if we weren’t moved up the page, but I talked him out of it.

I checked at some of the other posts and saw some I liked and others that were less helpful.

The Frugal City Popcorn is for the win in my book. Short story is you take a paper bag, put some corn kernels in, fold the top, and microwave- presto change-o you gots yourself some popcorns. No need for an air popper, and no need for the waste of wrapping, extra cost, etc. of commercial stuff. You can even reuse the same bag and any unpopped kernels next time. Well done Money Changes Things, you get an official Carl Weathers’ salute.

The shopping at ethnic markets post by Cheap Healthy Good also looked like a winner to me. I further liked the kitchen-sink approach of Lasagna Without Recipes, but maybe all that’s because I haven’t had dinner yet.

Less useful was another debate about whether to make your own laundry detergent. No way in hell I’m making my own laundry detergent. If I want to save twenty eight cents per load I’ll buy a more efficient washer. Just not interested. Neither was Carl Weathers, he just gets everything dry cleaned for the price of a few signed glossy headshots now and then.

Anyway, there’s plenty more in the festival and it’s not all food-related, so go check it out.