I’ve been tinkering with site design a bit around here, mostly looking for a way to include a general description of what The Simple Dollar is on every page without wrecking the overall design. So, things may be moving around subtly for the next few days as I try to come up with something that really works. For now, here are some personal finance posts.

A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks This article really gets it when it comes to cooking at home. A collection of well-considered (but not stupidly expensive) tools are really the foundation of a successful home kitchen. (ny times via seeing green)

Raise Your Children To Rely On Them “One of the beliefs that has been ingrained into my head since a very early age is that it is proper and respectful to somehow pay back my parents for all of the years of work and money that they have put into raising me.” That’s an interesting perspective. My parents have flat-out told me that I can “repay” them by making sure that my son and daughter are raised well - if I pour as much love into raising them as they did into raising me, then that’s about equal. (@ make love not debt)

What Would You Do? Cheat With Octane In Iowa, 89 octane gas with a 10% ethanol blend is substantially cheaper than 87 octane gas, so that’s usually what I choose for my vehicle. (@ queercents)

The Simple Dollar Retro: The Well-Stocked Kitchen: Staple Foods You Should Always Have On Hand This is a great supplement to the “no-frills kitchen” article above - here’s a list of the actual foods you should have on hand.