$5 Dinners

Today I discovered a great site called $5dinners.com. As the name implies, the site has great recipes (dinner and otherwise) that cost $5 or less to prepare for 4ish servings. Scrolling through the recipe index I saw at least six things I'd like to try -- all of which looked delicious, EASY and healthy.

Bonus: several of her recipes are gluten free; use the search tool in the upper right corner to find those.

Happy (cheap) eating!

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides

Doesn't that sound like fun reading?

Actually, it's a handy little guide you can print out [or download the iPhone app] that tells you which items you should spend the extra money on and go organic.

Get yours here. Thanks to David for sending this!

Smithsonian Museum Day, Sep. 26

Enjoy FREE museum admission to hundreds of participating institutions across the U.S. this Saturday, 9/26, courtesy of Smithsonian magazine. Check the site to find a venue near you, then complete and print out the admission card here.

In the Austin area, both The Blanton Museum of Art and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center are participating in this great event. Have fun!

Get your biz on at the library!

Our friends at the Austin Public Library, in conjunction with the City of Austin Small Business Development Program, are hosting a "Business Startup Orientation" at the Faulk Central Library tomorrow (Th, 9/3) from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Learn how to get your small business started -- and ensure its success! This event is FREE and open to the public. Read more about it here.

Article: Thriving after the Recession Ends

There's a great article on MSN Money called "10 ways to thrive after the recession". The basic premise is that we as consumers are permanently changed as a result of this recession. We have downsized and we like it. We have started saving and we intend to keep that up. We have given up the $10 cocktails and fancy dinners out in exchange for evenings spent at home with friends and family. And we like that, too.

Even advertisers and retailers are changing the way they speak to us, enticing us with ways to save. Target reports that it has seen an increase in items such as nail polish and hair color as people forgo the spa treatments in favor of doing it themselves.

So, I'd like to know, in what ways has the recession changed your spending/saving habits? Do you intend to keep up your new-found ways once the economy turns around?