TIPS FOR TIGHTWADS

Amy Dacyczyn's book, `The Tightwad Gazette,' is a treasure trove for penny-pinchers. Among her tips:

1. Hang laundry to air-dry instead of using an electric dryer. (Dacyczyn figures it costs her 44 cents an hour to run the dryer. Smaller dryer loads are more efficient, she also found.)

2. Take advantage of the free entertainment available at your public library: videotapes (one per week saves $150 yearly), audio tapes, magazines, museum passes.

While you're there, check out the how-to books that could save hundreds on simple repairs.

3. Make powdered milk and mix it, half-and-half, with regular milk. A family that drinks a gallon of milk a day could save $20 a month this way, she says.

4. Use home-laundered cloth diapers instead of disposable ones. Savings: $7 per week, $364 per year.

5. Write letters instead of making phone calls. A business-size envelope with five sheets of paper can go anywhere in the United States for 29 cents.

6. Bake two loaves of bread a week. Dacyczyn lists this under `Ten Painless ways to save $100 this year.'