Daily Thrifty Tips - May 12, 2006

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This is my daughter with her daughter. They just had flown in from Honolulu , Hawaii where they lived. My daughter just got out of the Navy and came home for Christmas before moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado where her husband is stationed. They were both soooo tired.

By Penny from Ipava, IL

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This is Indy. He is an 11 month old and is a pomeranian.

We got Indy this past July. He was 5 1/2 weeks old and weighed a pound and a quarter.

Indy enjoy playing tug-of war. He also enjoy running in circles as fast as his legs will carry him when he is outside. The picture submitted is one of Indy playing Peek-A-Boo outside with us.

Indy is a very smart puppy. To potty train him we put a bell on our door and when he needs to go outside he uses his nose and rings the bell.

To see Indy's other links:

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http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf12169382.tip.html

By Connie A. from Tennessee

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A rustic looking ladder for sweet peas or other climbers to scramble up in your garden or in a planter on your patio.

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We recently went through renovating our kitchen, due to a fire. Here a some great tips I would like to pass along on any room you are renovating, when using a contractor.

Know What You Want

Before you sit down with a contractor, list exactly what you want your project to include. Put items you must have (your needs) at the top of your list and those that aren't necessities (your wants) below, so that you can get a base rate for the project and add as your budget allows.

Get Two or Three Bids

You'll never know if you're getting a good price unless you ask several contractors what your project will cost. Be sure to ask each to bid on the same job-otherwise, you'll never get an oranges-to-oranges comparison. And make certain anyone you consider has the proper liability insurance.

Put It in Writing

Once you've chosen a contractor, get all the details on paper. Include what will and won't be done (such as protecting the property around the job site). Specify materials to be used right down to the brand of paint. And settle on a start and estimated completion date. Any changes to the original contract through the course of the job should be put in writing and initialed by both parties.

By Bobbie G from Rockwall, TX

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When roasting, stewing or grilling meat of any kind I always pour the drippings into a freezer container and freeze them just as soon as they have cooled just a little. When they have frozen, I pry up the layer of frozen fat with a fork and discard it, leaving only the defatted, seasoned broth or drippings. I always have a pork, a chicken, and a beef container in the process of being filled at all times in my refrigerator freezer. I just pour new layers over the old since the fat always rises to the top.

If I don't need to use all or some of the container I retire it to the larger freezer once it is filled and start another container. I find that I almost never need a bullion cube since I always have access to pre-seasoned broth or drippings. I just break up what I need with a fork and drop it in a sauce pan or micro-thaw as much as I need.

I often use defrosted drippings to add flavor to cooking rice, pasta, potatoes, or vegetables. In fall or winter I can pull a container out of the freezer and add precooked meat and fresh vegetables to have an almost instant soup or stew--a tremendous help when I need a quick meal for unexpected guests. Especially since I also try to keep frozen corn muffins and biscuits in the freezer as well.

Hint: Quick microwaving of fresh veggies to a stage that leaves them just a little crisp can have them ready to add to micro-thawed meat and broth in almost no time. Nearly micro-baked (not quite cooked all the way) potatoes can be quickly skinned and chunked and crispy tender carrots that are already prepared can be quickly cut into chunks so they finish cooking in a very short time in the broth. This keeps veggies from overcooking and "mushing up" in the broth.

By Jeanne from South Daytona, FL

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Use safety pins or clothes pins to attach clothing like skirts, pants, shorts to wire clothing hangers, in case you don't have the convenient clip hangers like they have in stores, for your closets. I like using these pins instead of folding and draping the clothing over the hanger. This way, if your clothing has been hanging for a while, it doesn't have dust across the top of the fold, which is hard to get off.

By Terri from NV

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You can find good ends of contact paper at the dollar store. I get 1.5 yard rolls of clear contact paper for 99 cents to cover books - but I have also found that frosted contact paper, frosted with a pattern, even see-thru lace patterns will work just as well for my purposes (covering my music books). I suppose you could use regular contact paper - but I like to see the title of the book. And remember to save the extra bits, as you can piece them together for smaller projects or to stretch when you are trying to finish a project and you are at the end of your supply. You can also use small pieces to reinforce the bindings of paperbound books, etc.

By pam from L.A., CA

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Many vets will give a discount if you bring in more than one pet at a time, if you've adopted your pet from a shelter, and some even give senior citizen discounts! It doesn't hurt to inquire about these kinds of discounts!

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Our Border Collie just had puppies. In fact, she had 14 total, but only 11 survived. 11 puppies! Oh my gosh. Thoughts were going through my mind about how we were going to help our "girl" look after them. Our main concern at the time was bedding. Although we had some, having 11 "poopy" puppies, instead of the normal 5 or 6, it would make it difficult to keep the whelping box clean.

Newspapers are great, but in the colder autumn months in Australia at the moment, I was concerned about keeping them warm. I was going to go to the thrift shop to see if they had any cheap bedding or rags to sell.

When I took our Jessie to the vet to have an examination of her and the puppies, the vet nurse there said we could have the extra bedding they had. They had purchased some new thermo bedding for the vet practice and were going to throw out the old. It was very clean and serviceable, and it solved our dilemma. It was certainly a cheaper alternative. In fact it cost us nothing. So, if you are faced with the same situation, why not visit a few vet clinics in your area and ask them. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Cheers,

By Bev from Rockingham, Western Australia

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When putting outfits, in your closet, that have certain accessories, put them close by. So when you're dressing in a hurry, everything is close at hand and you won't have to go searching for that belt, scarf, tie, etc. This would be especially helpful, if for some reason, a pal had to go to your house to pick out an outfit for you.

By Terri from NV

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I am doing my patio with red, white and blue. I am making a stencil from cardboard out of stars and spray painting my stepping stones in the appropriate colors. I think it adds a little bit of America to my back yard.

By Linda from Las Vegas, NV

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How can I get rid of a wart the frugal way?

jbaby7162000 from GA

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I am trying to find a recipe my Mom used to make. She called it "Straw Salad" (I don't know why). Some of the ingredients were apricot Jell-O, cream cheese, pineapple, bananas, and coconut. If I remember correctly, the ingredients were layered. I do remember it was DELICIOUS!

Suerkeene from Wallace, NC

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I have candle wax on carpet and microfiber. Does anyone know how to clean this up? Thanks.

Sonlitsweety

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I am moving from the U.K.. to Florida soon and plan to take my three cats with me. I am terrified of losing them and as they love to go outside. It is very hard to keep them indoors. Any suggestions on how to keep them close and keeping them from getting lost?

Virginia from Scotland

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I was making some candles in my kitchen and did not realize that some of the dye flakes fell into my floor and now I have numerous blue colored streaks on my linoleum floor. How can I get these out? I have tried nail polish remover and ammonia but nothing seems to work.

Thanks,
Cindy from Texas

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I do a lot of sewing for babies, especially "preemies", and have quite a bit of sewing supplies in my stash. How does everyone organize sewing, trims, lace, thread, etc.?

Evelyn from Southern Indiana

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Some people I know adopted a pit bull puppy. She is now 7 months old named Cali. One of the people she is with hits her for stuff like pooping in his room, or sometimes just "playing around" slapping her "in jest". Her feeding, watering and pooping schedule is something erratic.

They are depending on one of their girlfriends to come between classes to do the midday walking and feeding because they work from 11 to 7. Sometimes the girlfriend is not able to get there, and I think Cali might be locked in her cage the whole time without food or water. I know they do not pee or poop in their cages, so I assume she might have to hold it in till whenever someone can get her sometimes.

How much time should a pit bull spend outside? How many hours a day TOTAL should they be spending in a crate? Is it ever acceptable to strike a dog? What should the nonviolent owner to to fix this situation? The dog is very nice now, can she turn violent in the future? Thanks.

Kristin from NJ

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We relocated a 10-12 ft weeping cherry tree about a month or so ago. It did have buds when it was moved, and they did bloom, but they weren't covering every branch. Now, it has leaves, but they are TINY and and also not around every branch. I did edge and mulch around the tree recently, thinking it would help to keep moisture in. The tree recieves full sun, and the soil is well drained. Is my tree dying?

Hardiness Zone: 6a

Rebecca Knepp from Limerick, PA

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How can I remove Puffy paint from a Christmas Stocking?

IOWAGIRL from Covington, GA

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I would like to paint my white kitchen cupboards that have molded vinyl doors with a sort of grainy finish. Any ideas?

MaryLou from MI

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My son is 10 months old and still will not hold his bottle on his own or a cup. He does everything else any 10 month old does. I'm a new mother so I don't know when they start doing this. Does anyone know?

Carla from Lincoln, NE

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I want to use my mother's wedding purse as my something borrowed but it has yellowed. It is beaded with crystals. Any ideas?

Chloe14 from Detroit, MI

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I have a bug problem and no idea what they are. I have a Burning Bush, now 3 years old. I found what looks like black aphid looking bugs. They are very sticky and the black ants are all over where they are. The growth that they are on looks wilted. I have cut off all the bad parts but they come back. I am looking for a natural way to rid of them because the bush is near our garlic. Does anyone know what these are, the cause of them, how to rid of them?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Thank you,
Countrygal from New Castle, PA

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I have a long narrow bedroom and want to paint the wall opposite the door a dark burgundy-type colour to bring it in a bit. The other walls will be a cream/stone complimentary colour. However, that is the wall with the window and I am now stuck as to what colour curtains to get. Somehow curtains a lighter colour than the wall just don't seem "right". Any ideas?

Thanks,
Narrelle from UK

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How do you get crayon stains out of clothes dryer?

John from Lyndon, Vermont

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I have a small puppy. I purchased Urine gone but that is to expensive to keep buying. Does anyone know how to make that solution? At twenty dollars a bottle and with two dogs that keep on marking their territory you can just imagine how expensive that can get.

Chochies from San Marcos, CA

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Leaves in vegetable garden are turning yellow. Will colder mornings turn the leaves yellow, or is this a soil problem? Plants include tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and pumpkins.

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Keever from Salt Lake city, Utah

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I need games for a ladies 50th Birthday Luncheon held at my mom's home on June 24th. The party is for my sister.

Catherine from HUntington Beach, CA

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Does anyone have a cloned recipe for Pace Picante Sauce?

Di from Bucks. England

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I am looking for a liquid soap recipe for use in the shower. I have a couple dozen bars of Dial soap that we cannot use because it dries out our skin, and I would like to convert those bars into a moisturizing, good-smelling liquid shower soap. Please help!

Thanks!
Proud Mom of 4 girls from Reading, OH

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My question is that I am having a problem with my main breaker, so I want to change my main panel which is a Westinghouse main panel to a GE main Panel. My question is, could I change a mobile home main panel to a regular Residence Home main panel?

Thanks,
drs250 from sorrento, Florida

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How can I turn my Hydrangea blue? I am hoping it is something that I would have on hand.

Hardiness Zone: 4b

Thanks,
Helenw from Ontario Canada

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Oily Skin:

If you have oily skin, you can spend a lot of money applying store-bought products three or four times a day to fight it. Or, you can try some of these natural remedies and tips:

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Base moldings are installed to cover the gap between the floor and the wall. Laminate and wood flooring for example, is installed about half an inch away from the wall, so there is always a measurable gap to cover. Newly tiled or carpeted floors can be trimmed out by adding a simple quarter round molding to existing baseboards. If you plan to repaint and have grown tired of your old baseboards and trim around windows and doors, removing the old trim eliminates many feet of cutting in with a brush, making painting much faster and neater.

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Now that you've planted your garden, you need to make sure your pets don't dig it up!

One important question is: why are your pets digging? Are they bored? Does something smell funny over there? Or is it just instinct?

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A member of the ThriftyFun community asked for help on a barking problem:

Any tips on a LOUD barking Yorkie? He is so adorable loving and sweet but late nights he goes out to pee and then BARKS at the top of his lungs, I am afraid he will wake next door neighbors as it is pretty late when we go to bed. Also if he is alone in a room, my husb in bed me in office room Oso/Yorkie will go sleep in living room then wake to bark LOUD scaring me. He just got 'fixed' he did not spend night at vets he loves to board with his Cookie/Jack Russell so what's up with the bark?

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Breed Description: Welsh Terriers are sturdy, compact dogs with wiry coats and active, playful personalities. Originally bred for hunting small game like otters, fox and badgers, these robust, medium-sized dogs are the perfect companions for an active family and make good watch dogs.

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A member of the ThrifyFun community mentioned a relatively recent problem between two dogs in the same house:

I really need some help with the Pack Order in my house. Everyone is miserable, people and dogs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My vet did not have any. The only two girl dogs I have, (both have been spayed), came from the same mother and father, different litters. I rescued them from across the street. Mother was English bulldog and father was black lab mix. Both very sweet dogs.

After 4 years of getting along great, last month these two girls decided they hated each other and now can not be in the same location. After a $500.00 vet bill and surgery on one of them, I am exhausted. It is hard to continually keep these dogs apart. One of the dogs actually tried to take the other out of my arms. How about muzzles for both? Would that work? I actually gave one of them away and she almost grieved herself to death, (so did we). I had to go and get her. Please help.

Thank you so much.
Lisa

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