Daily Thrifty Tips - April 12, 2007

Volume Six, Number 72, April 12, 2007 (Read It Online) Tomorrow's Saving Money on Newsletter is about Saving Money on Snacks. Do you have any tips to share? Click Here to Post Them Thanks for reading, Susan Send to a Friend! Share a Tip (You could win $25!) Share a Photo (You could win $25!) Have a Question? Submit a request... Link to ThriftyFun.com View Active Topics! Edit Your Subscriptions: To edit your ThriftyFun subscriptions, click the Update Profile/Email Address link at the bottom of this newsletter. Today's newsletter contains: Today's Photos: Saving Money on Wedding Flowers Rose (Mixed Breed) Recycled Chair Planters Driftwood Wind-Catcher Homemade Adjustable Pom Pom/Tassel Maker Today's Tips: Sweet 16 Hawaiian Birthday Bash Use Cheese Slicer For Cutting Eggs Freeze Soup Bones For Your Dog Transfer Soap to a Smaller Bottle WD-40 To Remove Sticky Glue Audiobooks From The Library Makeshift Phone Speaker For Being On Hold Quilts To Save Couch From Baby Messes Uses for Laundry Soap Scoops? New Requests: English Gift Ideas Killing Scallions Removing My Phone Number From Google Locating Old Friends Online Tomato Salsa Using Canned Tomatoes Saturday Meal Ideas Gnats on Plants Microwave Cornbread Loose or Compact Face Powder? How can I get rid of climbing ivy? Uses for Used Coffee Grounds Tree Sap on a Dog Money Saving Tips More Reading: Uses for Old Maps Today's Sponsor: Crafting for Fun and Money! If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish. More Information: Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml Today's Photos: Saving Money on Wedding Flowers Save lots of money when it comes to flowers for your wedding. Visit your local markets and use in season flowers to create wonderful wedding bouquets with out the hassle of over price florist. Most roses are always in season. Use 12 -24 gather in a bundle, tie off with a festive bow. Use pearl headed push pins to secure ribbon to stems. A dozen roses at market run about 13.99. This can save you around 50.00 or 60.00 per bouquet. Happy wedding! By Tracy from Battle Creek Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf26300725.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Rose (Mixed Breed) Rose is a 15 year old mixed breed dog. Someone threw her out at 6 weeks old so we took her in. She likes digging and digging and more digging. Rose loves cats and the cats love her. She is just Sweet! By ELE from Oakland, Maryland Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf20325853.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Recycled Chair Planters Once these old chairs have the seats go bad on them, unless you can refurbish them, they're usually pretty worthless. I found a great way to salvage them as well as come up with new planters. View This Craft: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28249398.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Driftwood Wind-Catcher If you enjoy recycling and can operate a cordless drill, you will enjoy this craft. By making use of reclaimed fishing line and pretty beach treasures, your craft will be capable of displaying the magical energy of wind. You will be the envy of your friends and family! View This Craft: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf75096680.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Homemade Adjustable Pom Pom/Tassel Maker By Debra Frick This would make a wonderful Mother's day gift for the yarn artist in your family and this is a fun project for the home wood shop person in your home. With some cheap materials, you can have this made in a short time and begin to enjoy added tassels and pom poms to your handmade hats, scarves and Afghans. This is also a good way to recycle those wooden dowels that flags that hang outdoors come on, if yours got hit by a wind storm. View This Craft: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf99297260.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Contests: Tip Contest Submit a Tip or Recipe! Photo Contest Submit a tip with photo! These contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25! My Frugal Life Submit a My Frugal Life Essay! Today's Tips: Sweet 16 Hawaiian Birthday Bash Just wanted to share my experience with my daughter's Sweet 16 Birthday Party. We're always looking for a way to make our children's birthdays special. As we all know the older they get, the more expensive they get and the harder they are to figure out what to do. This year, I have decided to do a Sweet 16 Hawaiian Birthday Bash! Remember when we could go to Chuckie Cheese or the skating rink or bowling alley? Well, 16 is too old for that. So I am renting a hotel room, a suite at a local motel, LaQuinta Inn. The room is $99.00 from noon Saturday to noon Sunday. The kids can swim all day, order pizza for dinner. The boys go home at 10:00 PM, when the pool closes, and the girls can bring sleeping bags and stay overnight. LaQuinta Inn offers breakfast for everyone included in the $99.00 overnight stay. All the kids attending are asked to bring a Hawaiian dish, grapes, pineapples, anything tropical for snacks all day. We will decorate very easily with just some streamers and Hawaiian items. Not a real difficult theme. The girls will stay up all night long watching movies, talking on the phone and talking about boys. I will go in the spare bedroom, where there is a bed, and go to sleep. Sunday morning, we eat the complimentary breakfast. All we have to do is minor clean up, mostly throwing everything away, go home, and try to come up with something new for next year. So check out your local hotel/motel for a free day of swimming, game rooms, and breakfast the next morning included. Have Fun! By Sharon from Lakeland, Florida Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf66702243.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Use Cheese Slicer For Cutting Eggs Summer is just around the corner and you will probably be wanting to take some deviled eggs to those family picnics. I have found an easy and quick way to have perfect evenly sliced eggs every time without having some break. After you have boiled and peeled your eggs, take your wire cheese slicer and use it to slice those eggs right down the middle. Now you can remove the yolk and fix it with your favorite recipe. By deebomb from Lexington South Carolina Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf45233188.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Freeze Soup Bones For Your Dog I buy my dog soup marrow bones at the grocery store. They should be large enough so you dog won't choke on them. Also, they should not have small pieces they can break off (choke hazard also). After he eats the marrow out of the bone, I fill them with canned dog food and freeze them. They can be filled and frozen many times! My dog loves these treats, especially on a hot day. It keeps him busy for a long time! By Rose from Pittsburgh, PA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf54111067.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Transfer Soap to a Smaller Bottle We live on a limited income, and shop at Dollar General stores often. There, we buy DG brand antibacterial soap for bathing. A 40 oz. bottle cost $2. I transfer part of the liquid soap into a 18 oz. dish liquid bottle when I get home. I use less soap because with arthritis in my hands, the bottle is easier to handle than the 40 oz. size. Dropping the bottle wastes a lot of soap from the larger bottle. Hope this idea helps others too. By Signaler from Bellefontaine, Ohio Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf99439572.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print WD-40 To Remove Sticky Glue If you get glue on your floor tile or any where else, just spray with WD-40 and it will come off easily. My school janitor did not believe it but, by golly, it works. Thanks. By Bonnie from FL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf54670554.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Audiobooks From The Library Listen to audiobooks! I get them for free from the public library and listen to them as I drive and when I go for my power walks. I "read" about 2-3 books weekly using this method. I have learned to speak Spanish and have learned a great deal about personal finances and investing, which I had no knowledge in. I'm a library addict anyway, getting music CDs and ripping them into my computer (I have over 800 discs now). I also get magazines for free (old issues, of course) But they are all for free and I get ones that I would never subscribe to but really enjoy anyway. By George from Allentown, PA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf17055551.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Makeshift Phone Speaker For Being On Hold We are so often put on hold when we try to get through to government offices and so on, but need to stay on hold so we can talk to someone! We used to have a speaker phone but now my husband uses his little karaoke amplifier with the mike up against the phone, so we can hear when they get on the line and do other things while we are waiting. By pamphyila from LA, CA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf92101333.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Quilts To Save Couch From Baby Messes To save our new sofa and recliners in our family room when we had a new baby, I went to a discount store and purchased several quilts on sale for $10. The quilts were all the same and the colors matched my decor. We use the quilts as throws over the furniture. That way, when the baby spits up or our toddler gets messy, the nice new furniture doesn't get wrecked. The quilts are nice to use because they are a bit absorbent (because of the batting inside). You could also use old quilts or blankets you had around the house, I just didn't have any extra. I also thought it was nice they matched and the bright colors and patterns really spiced up the room. I've used these quilts as emergency towels when my son spit up; I've used them to wrap him up like a burrito when he had a diaper blowout (to save the carpet). I've also used them to cover the floor if he is eating something crumbly. They are so easy to clean, I just dump them in the washing machine and they can be dried in the dryer relativity quickly. Because I don't have a lot invested in time or money, I don't really care if they get wrecked. I purchased my quilts at Old Time Pottery, but I've seen them on sale sometimes at other national discount chains. You just have to grab them when they go on sale. By Jess from Brownsburg, Indiana Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf56429489.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Uses for Laundry Soap Scoops? I use the scoop that comes out of dry laundry detergent for my pet food. Washed well, of course. It is great and just enough. By Vicki from Lubbock, Texas Read more ideas below. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf732596.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Friends of ThriftyFun Dear Webby's Humor Letter Webby publishes our tips daily! A very funny newsletter. Webby now has a blog, read his latest newsletter as well as back issues here: http://webby.com/humor/blog/ More Information: http://webby.com/humor New Requests: English Gift Ideas We're traveling to New York from England this weekend and would like to bring over some typically English gifts for some old friends. Does anyone have any ideas? We thought Marmite might be fun but we're not sure if it has made it over to the US yet!? Suggestions would be welcome! Julie from Nr. London England Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf85962812.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Killing Scallions How do you kill scallions? Hardiness Zone: 6b Jay from Rahway, NJ Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf95413210.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing My Phone Number From Google Thanks so much for the post about Google's reverse phone book. I couldn't find the removal instructions. Could someone help those of us that are computer illiterate? Thank you, Ellen from Maricopa, CA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55545184.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Locating Old Friends Online Am looking for the best website to locate an old college friend. I have tried the free searches but since I know she is married now and I don't know her husband's name, I will probably need to use one of the websites that charges a fee and allows for more in depth searches. Any suggestions of which ones are best to use? Sylvia from KY Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf99910622.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Tomato Salsa Using Canned Tomatoes Does anyone have a recipe for tomato salsa, using canned chopped tomatoes if possible? Fresh tomatoes would be okay too. Thanks, Barbara from Bellingham, WA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf25050185.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Saturday Meal Ideas After years of ordering out on the weekends my husband and I decided it is getting too expensive. So, to save money, we've decided to cook at home on the weekends. Does anyone have any easy, economical Saturday meal recipes? Also, I grocery shop in Sundays so whatever ingredients I need will have to be able to survive a week until the following weekend when we would prepare it. Thanks! I always see such awesome tips on this site! Lisa from Concord, NH Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf76899805.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Gnats on Plants Are there any products around the house that I can use directly in or on the soil of the plant to get rid if the gnats that won't harm my dog or the plant? I already have lighted gnat traps and don't want to leave jars w with vinegar, wine or juice laying around the house. Those cut down the numbers, but aren't getting rid of them entirely. HELP. Susanne from Durango, CO Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf59700283.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Microwave Cornbread I am looking for a recipe for microwave cornbread. Lois from Oak Lawn, IL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf15666678.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Loose or Compact Face Powder? Do you prefer loose face powder or compact face powder for touch ups during the day? Onesummer Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf57322546.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print How can I get rid of climbing ivy? How can I get rid of climbing ivy? It is growing all over one wall of the house and I have noticed it coming into the house through a crack in the wall. Hardiness Zone: 3b Kara from United Kingdom, Worcester Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf21081125.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Uses for Used Coffee Grounds Does anyone know what to do with used coffee grounds from my filter machine? Not sure, but I think you can use them, when dried, to unblock a sink. Any other environmentally friendly ideas please? Cettina from Malta, Europe Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf442790.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Tree Sap on a Dog My dog stepped in pine tree sap. It's stuck in the fur between his toes. The area is too small to cut with a scissors. How can I remove the sap safely? Kasbal from PA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf552290.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Money Saving Tips In a few weeks my fiance and I will be moving to Des Moines to start living in the "real world". He is graduating from college and I will be continuing my education in the area. Since this will obviously be our first time out on our own, I am in desperate need of some tips! :) He will be getting an internship to help get his foot in the door, (it doesn't pay unless he does "extra stuff") and I will be going to school and working. Any tips on how to save money would be appreciated. Also, any insight to decorating or organizing an apartment will come in handy as well. Thank you! :) Amanda from IA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf522503.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Today's Sponsor: Crafting for Fun and Money! If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish. More Information: Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml More Reading: Uses for Old Maps Creative uses for old maps. Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf102777.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Interactive Coupon Swap! Swap coupons with other ThriftyFun.com users. Seed Swap! Swap seeds with other ThriftyFun.com users.