When I had a summer cottage, I would water all my plants, before leaving on Sunday evening. Then, for each of the planters, I would would fill up the 2L containers, and turn it over (quickly-so as not to loose the water) into the planter or right into the flower bed.
It then acts like a wick, taking only as much water as it needs, and collapsing the bottle in the process. When I got back on Friday after work, I could just survey which bottles were the most collapsed, and water them first. Never lost a plant.
Should have patened it,,because they are now selling a pretty glass variety of the same idea. ... View related article.
When washing bushels of cucumbers for pickles, I put them in my jacuzzi tub; works great.
I do, however, sanitize it first, running a cycle with dishwasher detergent, (gets rid of the oils/bath salts/soap scum), then I rinse it with a cycle of clear water with a few drops of bleach.
Yes it uses lots of water, but so does scrubbing them, one by one, then rinsing them, in the kitchen sink; this is just so much faster, and more effective at removing the fine sand on the cukes. ... View related article.
When on vacation, buy or get the complimentary newspaper or flyer; it will generally have coupons or deals advertised, of anything that is "happening" in the city/town you are visiting.
If traveling by car, a cooler is a necessity, but, there is a limit to how much you can bring. I make sure I also bring along some canned goods, (salmon, tuna, ham) some cereal, and drygoods. I will purchase bread, muffins, milk, as needed, to use/stretch what I brought along. .
A good, cheap place to stay, in the summer months, is at a local University/college dorm/residence. You generally have to call ahead to reserve. The price is about 1/4 of what a hotel room might be, with the second and subsequent persons being charged a nominal fee. They sometimes still have their cafeterias open; limited menu but really reasonable.
Another good source of cafeteria food, is the local hospitals' cafeterias; they provide good, nutritious meals for reasonable prices.
Food courts in malls, often offer specials,,one of which could be a .99c-$1.99 breakfast. You could buy one to eat for breakfast, and another, to make a bacon n egg sandwich for lunch; just make sure the eggs are well done (over hard) and you refrigerate it, till lunch time.
Grocery store's salad bars, often provide a wonderful selection of salads, at a per ounce price. To complete your cold plate, you can buy a couple slices per person of nice sliced ham to go with it.
Do your research before you leave, and get as many coupons and two for one offers as you can, from wherever, the Tourism Bureau, the internet, magazines.
As a single parent of three children, and on a very, very tight budget, we travelled for two weeks, every summer, to a different location and saw many, many attractions we would not have been able to, without these moneysavers. ... View related article.
