As most of you know, I do a weekly segment on Fox 9’s Morning Buzz. And for those of you who can watch, you know we have an absolute blast on air. But as much fun as you see us having before the cameras, it’s nothing compared to the hootenanny that ensues when the cameras are off.
There’s singing, dancing, on-picking (usually on me, because I’m the noob), and slacking off. In short, we have a Very Large Time. Which is why I love the F-O-X… and not just because they pay me.
However, it can’t always be fun and games. I actually work hard for the money, honey. Each week, I research my segment and put together a page of notes that I email off to the show’s executive producer. Want to see what I sent him this week? SURE YOU DO (and to make it even more user-friendly for you, I’ve included links to the sites I talked about on air. I’m a giver like that.).
Frugal Life Skills (My segment title that inspired Alix Kendall to tell me, “You have an aura of cheapness about you.” She meant that in a positive way. I think.):
Learning a few basic DIY skills can save you money in the long run, as well as being a fun hobby. To help you with your studies, here are some free/mostly free websites with detailed instructions and videos about sewing, knitting, cooking, and other frugal life skills.
Online Tutorials:
1. eHow.com, videos and articles. It’s free to join, and you have immediate access to videos like their Basic Cooking Tips and Technique series. It shows you how to do things like dice onions and scramble eggs. A quick search of their article archive brought up How To Make Your Own Storage Food Mixes. They also have videos and articles about hand sewing, sewing on a machine, knitting and crochet.
2. Instructables.com, articles illustrated with photos, plus some videos. Each instructable article comes with step by step instructions and interactive pictures. There’s also a place for you to leave questions and comments, which do get answered. Basic membership is free, or you can join for two years for just $39.95. Learn how to make your own snowboard or just get instructions on sewing for beginners.
3. Howcast.com, instructional videos. It’s an all-video site, and access is free. They have how-to videos on topics like knitting, sewing, and cooking. Or you can really get frugal and learn how to forage for edible wild plants, or how to be a freegan and Dumpster dive for food.
4. Cooking sites like Rouxbe Online Cooking School at rouxbe.com and Epicurious.com. Both have free recipe videos and cooking tip videos, with topics like How To Brine A Turkey, or How To Dice Onions (popular topic, that one). You can also join Rouxbe.com’s ($15 a month, $99 annual) for access to their complete cooking school video curriculum.
There are also inexpensive, in-person classes available in the Twin Cities:
1. JoAnn Fabrics. Different locations offer classes on sewing, crocheting, knitting – even cake decorating. Check the store closest to you for times and prices (the online site won’t give you prices).
2. The Textile Center. They hold fun craft classes all year long, and prices run between $30-$50 for non-members. Check their schedule at www.textilecentermn.org .
3. Crafty Planet. This Minneapolis craft store hold a sewing workshop every Friday night. Bring your project and your questions and get them answered for just $15 for 2 hours or $20 for 3. They also have crochet and knitting classes starting in February.
4. Whole Foods Market. The Minneapolis location hosts a huge array of classes from cooking, baking, even Worm Bin Composting 101, where Eureka Recycling teaches you how to “start and maintain a worm bin in order to reduce waste by composting food scraps year round.” Classes are generally $20-$25, and some are as low as $5.
And there you go – tons of useable information. Too much information, unfortunately. It’s hard to cover all those details in just 5 minutes, 30 seconds. Especially if you’re giggling too hard about the double meaning of “Dutch Oven” like we were…
3 Comments
Co-ops and community ed offer great classes too, anything from CPR to french cuisine.
Thanks again for the info! The tv segment was cool as well (cute dress!). I’ve already briefly tried eHow and instructables, and plan to view them again soon, along with some of the other sites. I can’t afford the fee-based classes or web sites right now, so the free web sites with pictures, videos, and instructions are awesome. Much appreciated, Erin!
I love epicurious. They have a great ap for my iPhone that will save favorite recipies and compile a shopping list for me. I especially love that you can read all the comments posted by the people that have already tried the recipe, saying things like – cook this before that, because…. great, but needs (salt, a red pepper, etc.)…. things like that really have helped to make the first time through a recipe successful.