Daily Thrifty Tips - September 1, 2006

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Boo is a black cat about 3 years old and Buddie is a year old Dutch Rabbit. Boo we got from a friend and Buddie from a pet store.

Boo likes to chase string and our other cat. Buddie likes to chase boo! Boo is hilarious, I swear he thinks he is a human. Buddie well he acts like one of the cats!

By Cindy Stout from Ohio

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Toffee is my English Springer Spaniel. She turns one on 09/01/2006 (today!). My husband gave Toffee to me for my 50th birthday. She was 2 months old when we got her home and I jokingly call her the gift that keeps on giving because she brings me a lot of joy every minute of every day.

Toffee loves to run wild in the garden and play with "Uno" one of my cats. Every morning after breakfast she jumps on my lap and demands to be petted. That was easy when she was a puppy but now she is a full-grown dog and very heavy!

By Jazzdancer from Caracas, Venezuela

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Tips for saving money on dish soap.

Fill a pump bottle halfway with dish soap and the rest of the way with water. It uses less soap, but still produces great suds.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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You were asking if anyone was making Christmas gifts this year. Every year I paint wood ornaments to give out to our family and friends. My mom and I take turns picking the theme for the year (penguins this year) and then we set about the rest of the year creating our gifts. My ornaments are boy and girl penguins in red, white and blue dresses or scarves

By Suzzy from Phoenix, Arizona

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If you have boots or purses that you haven't worn or used in quite some time, shake them out, outside first, before running your foot or hand inside. Beware of little creatures that might be hiding in the dark insides. It might save you a trip to the emergency room. I know a couple of people who wished they'd done this!

By Terri from NV

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I have a very elderly aunt, who is diabetic, and a VERY strict vegetarian. She also refuses to eat onions or garlic. Christmas was a real stumper for me until I came up with the idea to can some things for her when I did my own canning. I make her vegetable soup without her hated onion and garlic, also a sort of Italian sauce. I use my own organic veggies and make her tomato juice, green beans, pumpkin, beets, carrots, etc all without salt or sugar. I also make up fruits and even some pie fillings using fructose (this is NOT the high fructose corn syrup), which is fruit sugar and her doctor allows in her diet. I also include a jar of homemade noodles and often times a jar of the layered dry soup. She talks about the couple of dozen jars of food I make her all year. She especially loves the fact that I told her that I think of her every time I plant something to can and how much fun it is.

By Margie Minard from Mount Vernon, OH

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Here 'down under' we are in the middle of the school year so the tips will have to be kept for January. LOL

Just a point here - so many of these tips seem to refer to clothing. In Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and I know other countries the school children wear uniforms. This is so much easier for everyone - the mums when shopping, the dads when dressing the children (as per one hint today), and especially the children as they know what to wear each day and there is no peer pressure to wear a particular type of clothing. The big plus is that the children always look tidy (well mostly, LOL), and if they are misbehaving out of school then people know which school they go to because of the colour, etc. of the uniform. We find it amazing that your children don't wear uniforms. Is there a reason for that? This applies to infants, primary and high school. Of course, once they leave school and go to university, they do not wear uniforms.

Cheers
Lorraine K. - Queensland. Australia

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My daughter is a senior in high school, a tech H.S. She has a co-op program this year. She'll be working every other week in an office. She's not one for frilly girl clothes. So basically she owns comfortable jeans, etc. Well we had to shop at a frugal price for a week's worth of executive clothes. Oh I forgot, she's also a plus size.

Never the less, I didn't want to hit the malls at this time with their prices. Hubby wanted to stay around the house. So off we go to Walmart which I didn't think we'd get much and I was right, 2 pairs of pants, 2 tops and 6 bras.

Down the street and around the corner was another plaza which happen to have a Marshall's. Oh well, might as well give it a try maybe we'll find a couple more outfits to start then that'll give us another 2 weeks to look. Guess what! She was so happy that the basket was filling like the stuff was for free. We walked out of there with 4 pairs of pants, 8 tops and a blazer. Yahoo!

So don't forget to check out these stores: Marshalls, T.J. Max, A.J. Wright. Have fun.

By LRP from Lowell, Mass

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I fire up my grill once a week and grill enough meat for the entire week -- hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts, steaks and pork chops. I don't have to heat up the kitchen (I reheat in the microwave), use only one bag of charcoal and don't sweat more than one day in the heat by the grill. With 40 plus days of over 100 degrees heat, this helps keep my kitchen much cooler, plus saves me cooking time.

By Bobbie G from Rockwall, Tx

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Our youngest daughter was addicted to the television. She tried to turn the TV on the moment she walked into the house and preferred to watch TV over anything else. We had to find a way to break the hold the television had on her impressionable little mind. Now before you start thinking I am the kind of mom who just let my kid watch anything or used the TV as a babysitter, let me reassure you:

She plays sports and runs cross country, attends girl scouts and church activities, performs chores, reads for 20 minutes daily BUT when there was a free moment she wanted to watch the TV. It was a battle at times to get her attention away from the TV! We could see the harmful influences: Her lack of reading skills and EVEN WORSE, her lack of a love of reading, her mimicking some of the kids behaviours she saw (backed up by a laugh track).

So we instituted TV free days (now expanded to technology free days). The Television and the computer are OFF limits-every Tuesday. Each person in the household has to find another way to entertain themselves (no computer games, not TV, no hand held games, ipods or CD players)

It was hard at first for her to break the habit but she has managed to be Technology free on Tuesdays for over a year now. Her reading has improved and she has moved up in class in her cross country team! It took a lot of reminders on mom and dads part, but we're all happy to have a technology free day once a week NOW!

Some benefits you might realize are: improved reading and test scores, improved concentration, better sleep, family meal times, happier pets (after they are walked on this day), weight loss or other health improvements, etc. Try it and see what impact it has on your family. Good Luck!

By Diana from Prospect, KY

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Dear Webby's Humor Letter

Webby publishes our tips daily! A very funny newsletter.

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I have a top load washing machine, nothing new and fancy. my towels come out of the wash with this smell and when they get wet again, it's worse. i mostly use tide detergent, no fabric softener, and scent free dryer sheets. I am looking for some help so I can keep a towel on my head without thinking of wet dog!

Susan from Cranston, Rhode Island

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How do I get rid of spiders in my house and hegdes?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Amanda from Wabash, IN

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Can you get mold off of leather? My husband has a leather jacket that sustained water damage and is now moldy in some places. This leather jacket means a lot to him and I would really love to return it to its previous glory!

Can it be done? What do I need to do?

Thanks yall!

Sheila from Port St. John, FL

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I need to change my e mail address for the newsletter. How do I go about it? Or must I unsub and re-subscribe?

Anne from Durham United Kingdom

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What can I do to clean up the bacteria from overflowed toilet and sewer water on carpet?

Joyce from Pasadena TX

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I am wondering if anyone can tell me how to soak clothes in a front loading washing machine. My new husband has one - and I sure miss my top loading machine. I'd like to be able to soak my whites. Thanks!

Melanie from Minnesota

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Can I make a jelly recipe, add water to make a syrup and then can it?

Karaof4 from MN

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I recently went a BBQ and brought home a hamburger (fully cooked) with some raw onions that I put on top as leftovers. Getting the late night munchies, I microwaved both last night to heat them up and now my whole apartment the minute I step inside the door reeks of onions. I have already sprayed some Febreze in all rooms of the apartment and lit some incense. It's helping a bit but the smell still lingers.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Matt from NH

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Do you know how the inside of a sweat shirts can become stiff and no longer soft and snuggly? How can I fix that? My favorite sweat shirt is like wearing sandpaper now.

Megan from Chestnut Hill, MA

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How can I clean my tan leather purse?

Stacey from Brighton, Ontario

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Can pears be frozen?

June from Ascot, Berkshire, England

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I am looking for directions for making a purse from recycled t-shirts.

Pat from Dallas, TX

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How do you close a pool after swimming season?

Gina from Erie, PA

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My ex bought real makeup for our 5 1/2 yr old dd, and let her put it on at his house, unsupervised, and she got makeup all over the front of a white shirt. Is there a way to get the stains out of her shirt and make it white again? I have not washed it yet, if that helps any. Thank you for your suggestions.

Janice from Illinois

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How can you get paint off of brick?

Diane

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How do I clean water damamge off of my suede purse?

Mikey from Honolulu, HI

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Why do my cast iron skillets get this gummy sticky residue on them? I thought I had cured it well, and wash it with only water. What can I do to get it back to good shape?

Nancy from Nebraska

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How will I know when I get the FreeFirefox Web Browser and what kind of change will occur?

Rosebud

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How do I get permanent marker off wood?

Michael from Auckland, NZ

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Could someone help with advice on how to get rid of rats? A friend has rats that she cannot get rid of and now Mrs. Rat has had eight little baby rats! My friend also has dogs so the advice needs to be pet safe.

Thank you! Kind regards,
Carol from Pretoria SA

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How do you do prepare swiss chard for the freezer?

Sandy from Canada, Alberta

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Product: Muratec F112

Model: F112

Manufacturer: Muratec

Request: Looking for feedback about the Muratec F112 fax machine.

Sherrie from Fayetteville, NC

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I was wondering if I can use some old mason jars I got for free to do some canning. Will the metal lids work? Should I get new lids? Some have rust on them. I really wanna be able to use some of my tomatoes from my garden this winter.

Jennifer from Illinois

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I live in Montreal Quebec and made myself a small garden outside my office. It's full of tomatoes but some are not too big and all of them are green still. I took off the branches with no tomatoes very gentily to give more power to the tomatoes. Did I make a mistake?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Debbie from Montreal Quebec

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Does anyone have a recipe for gnocchi that does not use potatoes?

Pam from WI

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It is that time of the year again - back to school! While some are returning this next week, others have been back for quite a while...my own children returned to school over a month ago. However, it go without saying, that no matter if your children have been back for a while or if they are just now starting to get ready for the big day, you can never have too many lunch ideas!

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Here is a yummy cool desert for summer, No Bake Cheesecake! I put this together myself, my own recipe.

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The shorter days and cooler nighttime temperatures of September are once again signaling that the end of another summer growing season is drawing to a close. It's not officially fall yet, but the tail end of summer is certainly here. As our vegetable crops start to dwindle and our summer perennials start to fade, are garden to-do list can get long quickly if we don't keep on top of things.

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