Thriftism

 Bean Burgers that Taste Like the Real Thing   <$0.30/serving With all the nice, or at least not freezing, weather we have been having lately, I start to get my summer cravings. In the winter it tends to be soup, chili, anything hot… Spring and summer veer more towards fruit, steak, salads, and one of my favorites- burgers. I absolutely love homemade hamburgers. However, these are not very cost friendly right now. The cheapest hamburger I could find was $4/lb which can easily turn your meal budget upside-down. So I started exploring for some option to get my burger fix without blowing the budget and guess what, beans are super cheap. Beans and rice seem to fit into many of my solutions, but they really work. I was able to make these burgers for less than $0.30/burger, buns and lettuce included! Anyway, these bean burgers actually taste and have consistency similar to a real burger. I won't tell you they are exactly the same, because I don't think that is

 Rice crackers are a great alternative to wheat/gluten containing cracker that you usually find in the store. They definitely have gluten-free options, but lets face it, nothing is going to be as cheap as homemade rice crackers when you're making your own flour.I know I have brought up my grain mill quite a bit, but I really think the grain mill is awesome. Also, rice is one of the cheapest things you can buy at the store. I think it was around $4 for a 5lb bag. This is where the grain mill comes in handy--rice flour is NOT dirt cheap at the store. Grinding rice flour is really, really easy as is only takes one pass through rather that a couple with the harder items like garbanzo beans. These crackers are one of the easiest recipes I have ever made and is consists of 4 ingredients (plus spices if you flavor yours). 1.5 Cup Rice Flour 2 t Baking Powder 1 T Olive Oil 1 C Boiling Water Seasoning to Taste Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix your flour and baking powder

I've come to realize that there are only so many ways to make extra money while holding down a full-time job. I don't always know what time I'll get off work which pretty much rules out getting a second part-time job. I have a few friends that do this and I don't know how they have the energy to keep up with it. I feel dead by the end of most days and couldn't imagine losing another 3 hours of sleep most nights. I used to donate plasma, but the last time I went in they suddenly decided my veins were now too small. So I started looking into participating in a study.  There a lots quite a few different companies that run medical studies around the country. We have two located in my area- Novum and Axis. Axis hadn't yet opened when I was looking which left me with Novum. From what I've seen so far they do a ton of dermatology tests, meaning no blood draws. Not that blood draws are the worst thing in the world, but I wouldn't pick to do them if I di