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Hello,
I hope everyone had a productive and relaxing weekend. It was a busy weekend at ThriftyFun.com. On Saturday we published the ThriftyFun News with Christmas Gift Ideas in it. Most of the tips are contest entries so be sure to check it out since we try not to duplicate information published in the TF News in this newsletter. If you are not a subscriber to the TF News, you can read the issue online at the link below:
TF News - Christmas Gift Ideas:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf495570.tip.html
Our latest contest ends tonight and midnight.
Thanks for reading,
Susan
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Today's Tips:
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Today's Tips
Removing Soap Scum From Bath Tub or Shower
Calgon Takes It Away! The easiest way to remove soap scum in a tub or shower: Purchase a box of Calgon water softener powder (in the detergent section of most supermarkets). Apply a small amount to a wet cloth. Rub on, rinse off. Scum is gone. Works so well and is so mild you can do this while taking a shower without hurting your skin at all.
By Kathy
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Use a dab of glue on a paper cut to seal it together. It won't hurt as much while it heals.
By Kathy
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Right after planting some small evergreen trees, deer were eating them. A friend told me to ask the local hair salon for hair clippings and sprinkle them around the ground where the trees were planted. I guess they disliked the smell because they didn't eat on them anymore. Now they eat the tender stalk of my yuccas when they start growing in the spring. Win a few lose a few. :-)
Deer were eating my tomato plants. I had read somewhere to sprinkle them with baby powder and it would repel the deer. It worked. It is safer than a harsh chemical and washes right off tomatoes when you are ready to use.
P.S. I cut the plants way back after the deer had munched on them leaving hardly any plant. They re-grew and I got a second crop of tomatoes.
By Gladys Hill
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Emergency Caulk For Holes In The Wall
I recently moved a picture in my dining room. There were nail holes left in the wall. We had guests coming for dinner. I was out of caulk, so I used white toothpaste, dabbed it with a small amount of left over wall color paint. Worked great until I went to town the next time and bought caulk.
By Gladys Hill
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Vinegar Instead of Rinse Agents
Don't buy expensive rinse agents for the dishwasher! Use white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar if you're out of the other) in the rinse cylinder/ compartment of the dishwasher. It especially helps get rid of hard water deposits in areas with well water!
By Carlabw
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Training Cats To Stay Off Furniture
I found an easy way to keep cats off my furniture and out of rooms I do not want them in. I keep a spray bottle full of water and just give them a squirt when they exhibit the undesirable behavior. They immediately run away and are trained very quickly.
By Dana
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Baby Wipes for Carpet Stains
Sudden stain on your carpet? Keep baby wipes handy, they are great in a pinch and it doesn't set stains. Blot the stain, do not rub so as not to distort the carpet fibers. If needed use a few and step on them to help absorb stain. Great in a pinch until you can get the professionals in.
By Suezeecue
Baby Wipes In The Car
Even now that my children are 10 and 7. I still find myself buying baby wipes. I keep them under my seat in my car for when we have fast food. They work so much better than the napkins the restaurants give you.
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Turning Bath Gel Into a Great Scrub
I have found that when you have a bottle of bath gel and want to make it go farther, find a nice glass jar, one that has a good lid on it, and pour some epson salts in the jar, then pour the bath gel over the salts. You now have a great scrub! If you cannot get all of the gel out of it's container, cut the bottom off and add a little water to the gel and swish around, add to the jar that now is a "scrub"!
By Cookiepom
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High Octane Gas Saves Money (?)
This might sound goofy, but it works. When you gas up, use the highest octane gasoline available. I use Sunoco 94 octane. I have found my gas budget goes farther, because I am able to run longer on the higher octane gasoline! It costs more at the beginning but at the end of my budget, I have money left over!
By Carlabw
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Joke - Unthrifty Dress Temptation
Struggling to make ends meet on a first-call salary, the pastor was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought...
"How could you do this?!"
"I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I found myself trying it on," she explained. "It was like Satan was whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress. Buy it!'"
"Well," the pastor replied, "You know how I deal with that kind of temptation. I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!'"
"I did," replied his wife, "but then he said, 'It looks fabulous from back here, too!'"
By Carlabw
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Organizing Jewelry in the Bathroom
I use the reverse side of linen calendars to hold my earrings and pins. All of them fit on one calendar, It is easy to put them on because of the loose weave and they look pretty hanging on my bathroom wall. I use an expanding wooden cup rack for my necklaces and they also look pretty hanging on the wall.
By Nancy Wall
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Forcing Bulbs For The Holidays
Plan now for your holiday bulb display. You can have a dishful of paper whites a bloom in as little as four weeks.
Winter is no reason for a gardener to be deprived of living blooms. And making sure you have flowers to brighten the season--including the holidays - means getting started now.
The easiest bulbs to force are paperwhites because they don't require chilling. "Forcing" - coaxing, actually - is the term used to describe the process that stimulates bulbs to bloom out of season. Among the most commonly forced bulb flowers are amaryllis, paperwhite narcissus, muscari and hyacinths. Certainly they are the easiest. However, other bulbs that can be forced include colchicum and miniature iris. When selecting bulbs for forcing, look for varieties that are specifically recommended.
Spring-flowering bulbs usually require a rooting period of up to 12 to 15 weeks at temperatures between 41-48 degrees F in order to produce a good root system, which is essential if they are to be "forced" into flower.
But paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) don't require the 12-week rooting period. Quick and easy to start, they'll bloom within four to six weeks of forcing and give you indoor blooms not only for the holidays but throughout the winter, if you plant them batch after batch.
Paperwhites are most often (and most easily) potted in shallow containers of gravel. Place bulbs on a layer of gravel and carefully fill in enough gravel to hold bulbs but not cover them. A crowded grouping will be the most attractive.
Add water to the container. It should reach the base of the bulbs, but not touch the bulbs. Place container in a sunny spot, step back and watch 'em grow! You'll see roots in a day or so and in three to five weeks you'll have gorgeous flowers.
When the bulbs have finished flowering, add them to the compost pile. Bulbs forced without soil use all their energy for that one bloom, and paperwhites, even when forced in soil, rarely revive in the garden.
By Kathy
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Safe Can (Jar) for Hidden Keys
I painted the inside of a mayonaise jar (keep label on) with white craft paint. I keep it in the refrigerator in the garage to store our house keys in. Works great and no more fumbling.
By Havanagirl
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A quick tip for keeping ear wax build-up from causing problems: I took my mother to the doctor who made her hearing aid because ear wax had built up on it so bad, that it didn't work. The doctor told her to use a drop of hydrogen peroxide in each ear every evening and it would help cut down on the wax. I tried this on my son, he has such small ear canals and a terrible wax build-up and even a hard time hearing. So far, so good, he said it was "bubbly, cold and tickly" but already after a week, he's hearing better and his ears don't itch from the wax! Simple and inexpensive!
Alica
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When I go to the grocery store any money that I save with coupons I put is my savings account. I plan my grocery budget according to things on sale and do not count the coupons that I have. So I end up saving money that I was planning to spend.
By Kimberly
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When my husband's friend's mom passed away 2 months ago, we wanted to give him and his wife something special to remember her by. I phoned the local florist and they said that the smallest floral arrangement would be $35.00. I then phoned the local plant nursery and asked the prices of rose bushes. I wanted a rose bush that would be hardy to our area (Zone 3). For $20.00 I bought a hardy rose bush in a 2 gallon pot. The nursery even tied a big raffia bow on the pot and put a sympathy card on a clear plastic stick into the plant. Our friends were thrilled and even brought me into their back yard to find the best place to plant the rose bush. The rose will bloom each summer and last far longer than a flower arrangement.
In the future, if we wish to give someone special a sympathy gift in the wintertime when a rose bush cannot be purchased at a nursery (we live in Canada) I will purchase a single rose at a florist and give it to them with the promise of a rose bush to come in spring.
-valleyrimgirl
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In your garage you have all these nuts, bolts, nails, washers, things of that nature. Get jars, baby food jars are great. Take the lids off and nail the lids to the ceiling beams of the garage over your work area. Fill the jar with one type of nut, bolt or nail. and screw the jar into a lid. Presto you just saved a whole drawers worth of space or counterspace. - Xerophyia
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Nylon Hose for Dusting Silk Flowers
Save old nylon hose with runs in them, wash them and use them to "dust" silk/polyester flowers. Old dryer sheets work as well also, and will give the petals/leaves a nice scent.
By Carlabw
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Tip Contest
Submit a tip and you could win:
New Contest! $30.00 Gift Card
In our newest contest we are giving away a $30.00 Gift Card at one of the following stores: Home Depot, Jo-Ann's Crafts or Amazon.com. If you are the winner, you get to choose which gift card! We figured it would be more valuable if you pick out your own prize, that's why we have decided to go the gift card route. This contest will end on November 15th.
Syndication Spotlight:
Here are some publishers that have chosen to publish our tips this week!
Dear Webby's Humor Letter
Webby publishes our tips daily! A very funny newsletter.
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New Requests:
I have 4 rose of sharons and am having trouble, the leaves are turning yellow. Everyone elses around here are blooming and mine look sick. I live in Alabama, could anyone give me some help here? Thanks,
Anita
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Looking For A Natural Cough Medicine
My son has coughed for a month. He's been to the doctor twice, on antibiotics twice. He has no other symptoms other than a cough so bad that he either throws up or has bronchial spasms and can't breath air in or out. His doctor gave him codeine cough medicine which I hate to give him. It doesn't work at all and makes him groggy. His doctor said it just has to run its course. Well, in the meantime, he's missing (a week so far) school. Anyone know of a strong natural cough medicine or anything to stop the spasms when he coughs? Since I know it isn't bronchitus or pneumonia or asthma, I just need a good natural cough medicine or homemade remedy. Thanks!
Alica from Missouri
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Need Ideas for Mother's 80th Birthday
I need some ideas for my mother's 80th birthday. - Jennie
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Need Ideas for an Advent Calendar
I am desperately seeking an idea for a Advent Calendar. I know the old paper chain trick but I am looking to make something that will last a lifetime and will be used for making a new family tradition in our home especially for my grandkids. I thought about making a box with small holes but 25 doesn't work out evenly for the shape of a tree or anything but a 5 by 5 box. I would like it to be big enough that I could maybe put a small toy (hot wheels) in so when each grandson takes a turn opening the door there would be a surprise. Come on Thrifty Tippers I need some ideas! - Debra in Colorado
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I am in need of ideas or suggestions for an Army Homecoming Ball. My husbands Army Reserve unit will be returning from a year long deployment. We will be having a homecoming ball in late February. There really is no theme, except maybe patriotic. We have a shoestring budget and would appreciate all ideas or suggestions. Thank you. - Crys
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I own a new condo, and have lost power at four outlets. Two of these are in the kitchen, the other two in the dining room. The outlets in the dining area have only been used periodically while vacumming. The two outlets in the kitchen that aren't working have only been used for small appliciances. None of the outlets have burn marks etc. Other outlets in the kitchen are working fine.
I've reset all the breakers and still no juice. The advice given to others about electrical problems has been good. Hoping to get some help as well!
Cheers...
Steve B
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Does anyone have any ideas on getting the fold line out of a rug? Rina from Oregon
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More Reading:
Circular Saws - Make them all they can be.
By Gene Miller
Circular saws have become more than a tool that you will just find at a construction site. From the early days of work on construction sites cutting only wood circular saws now are found in almost every home of a do-it-yourselfer and can cut not only wood but with the purchase of some specialty blades can now cut wood, masonry, metal and plastic.
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Video games are an expensive past time ($50.00 average per game), you can get the most out of this hobby for a lot less money by doing 4 things:
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"Decorating for the Holidays When Short on Time & Money,"
By Susan Dunn, MA, Personal Life & EQ Coach
Lucky you if you live in the north (of the US). Lucky all of us that nature is plentiful in providing free supplies for decorating our homes for Thanksgiving no matter where we live.
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Small Space Living
By Maria Palma
Living in a small space can be quite a challenge! If you're an artist like me who is constantly creating something, the stuff that has accumulated can make you feel quite claustrophobic. Over the course of a year I've finally learned how to manage my space and all my stuff!
View Article: Click Here
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