Daily Thrifty Tips - June 18, 2007

Volume Six, Number 118, June 18, 2007 (Read It Online) I hope everyone had a nice Father's Day weekend. This week's Saving Money on Newsletter is about Saving Money on Child Care. If you have any tips to share feel free to submit them on the contest form or here: Here are the contest winners for the week before last. Tip Contest Winners $10 Dinners: Parmesan Chicken And Veggies By Allison from Northeast TN Top Pancakes With Applesauce Mixed With Syrup By Gina J. from Colorado Photo Contest Winner Homemade Rain Barrel By Katie from Gallup, New Mexico Thank you to everyone that took time to share something! 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: Prize Winning Christmas Look Silk Flower Ball Kid Footprints Penny Pots Snoop (Rottweiler) Today's Tips: Sorting Backlogged Emails Have Kids Cook Their Favorite Foods Hand Sanitizers Are Poison To Children Great Deals With Coupons Reuse Kiddie Pool Water For Plants RV Warranty Repairs Tip Summer Crafts For Bored Kids Drive Slower To Save Gas Diatomeceous Earth For Eliminating Fleas Stretching Boxed Macaroni and Cheese New Requests: Keeping MS Word Formatting Box Out of the Way Repairing Formica Furniture Floor Tile and Wall Colors for a Black and White Kitchen What is a Bundt Pan? Fixing Craft Disaster - Garish Paint Weed and Feed on New Grass Skin Fungus on Border Terrier Mix Getting a 4 Year Old to Look Forward to School Wine Stain from Polyester Camisole Outdoor Light Using Electricity When Turned Off Covering a Bird House With Bird Seed Cigarette Smell on Leather Furniture Hiding a House Key Outside Bioidentical Hormones Removing the Name from the Back of a Jersey SOS Pad Stained Toilet Carnation Instant Breakfast Recipe Squirrels Eating My Apples More Reading: Foreclosure "Rescue" Scams Saving Money on Camping Sewing Stretchy Fabric 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: Prize Winning Christmas Look I won first prize for my Christmas look, an airline ticket to Ireland. Everybody appreciates it when we care enough to release the child in us and allow ourselves to be playful, no matter how old we are! By Mae from Washington, D.C. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf54779953.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Silk Flower Ball Materials 1 6 inch styrofoam ball 25 silk flowers (note: get ones that are open so you don't need as many) matching ribbon Directions Take styrofoam ball, pull heads off of silk flowers and glue and press into styrofoam ball. Glue silk leaves from silk flowers throughout ball. Hot glue matching ribbon so you can hang. By Carol from Massachusetts Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf64477506.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Kid Footprints "Those darn kids!" Haha, feet prints where only a kid could go! By Veronica from Sedalia, Missouri Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf53468967.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Penny Pots Penny pots look great inside or out. Take an old flower pot or bowling ball and use silicone to attach the pennies. By Julie Anne from Ontario Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf60415218.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Snoop (Rottweiler) Snoop is an 11 year old Rottweiler. My ex-husband bought him for my son without asking me first. Once I saw him I could not turn him away, he was only months old, and SO cute! He loves to go for walks carrying a ball, play tug, and be nosey about anything that is going on. He has literally saved my life three times, and is considered my third (very hairy) child. Although named for the rapper, "Snoop Doggie Dog", he has lived up to his name by being very "snoopy" in all that anyone does, even read with me, (although we're both getting older, but I'm not saying who really needs the magnifying glass!) By Marie from Wisconsin Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf49275774.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: Sorting Backlogged Emails How to get through a week's worth of backlogged emails fast! If you are gonna be offline a few days or even a day, try this: Block the name (thus the mails) of the biggest emailers on your list. Do so by clicking on their mail in the list and go to the top of the screen where you see "Message". Click on "Message" and scroll down the list until you see "Block Sender" and add them to the list. Create a folder with the name(s) of whoever that is. You will still get their mails but they will go in your "Deleted Items" and you can unblock them when you feel you are caught up enough to deal with it all. Then, go to the "Deleted Items" folder and manually delete the spam that gets past your spam bot and the newsgroups mails are left (or ,your biggest mailers). Click on any one of the mails, on the keyboard press "Ctrl A" to highlight the mails. Use your cursor to drag them all into a file folder you created. If you have more than one big mailer: after you drag their mails into their folder, use the FIND function located near the top of the screen (usually on the same toolbar as :Create, Reply, Reply all, Forward, Print, Delete, Send/Receive, Addresses and FIND) In the "From" field, type the persons name or addy and this will weed out their mails from the rest so that you can then highlight them like you did the first time) and also drag them into their own folder! I know this sounds maybe a little complicated but it works. By Veronica from Sedalia Editor's Note: Most mail programs will allow you to set up a filter so you can route or mark specific emails. For example; you can have all emails from ThriftyFun go directly into a "ThriftyFun" folder instead of the Inbox. Check your help menu to see how your specific email program handles this. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28121900.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Have Kids Cook Their Favorite Foods Are you trying to get your kids to cook with you? To start out, have them make something they like and is easy to make, like grilled cheese, or soup. That way, they will start to see that even though it looks hard, it really isn't. And it's fun too when you are making something you really enjoy. By Maggie from Macungie, PA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf61317824.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Hand Sanitizers Are Poison To Children Received this e-mail from a friend and wanted to share it. By PICO from ST PAUL, ALBERTA Editor's Note: We found the original Snopes article. It is all about the dangers of hand sanitizers due to the high alcohol content, especially for small children. Anyone who has small children around and uses hand sanitizer should read the Snopes article here: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf10279442.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Great Deals With Coupons Don't discard those coupons when you're thumbing through the Sunday paper. I rarely used them because compared with the prices at club warehouses and discount stores, I didn't find them to be a good deal. Lately though, I have discovered a few ways to get some great deals with them. I clip and organize them into a coupon folder and ALWAYS take them when I go shopping. Discount stores, pharmacies and most grocery stores have clearance sections. One local grocery store often discounts items because the UPC code changes, even though they still carry that item. Stores often have "buy one get one" free sales and some offer triple coupon weeks. They will triple the coupon value as long as the coupon itself is under $1.00. So by combining the store discount with the coupon, here are a few of the deals I got this week. 6 deodorant/anti-perspirants for 47 cents each, 2 Suddenly Salads for 34 cents each 2 Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes for 24 cents each, Schick Quatro Razor with 2 blades for 99 cents, A 4 pack of blades to go with it for 24 cents, 2 Max Factor mascara's for $3.16 2 Oil of Olay moisturizing body washes for $1.11 each. (They didn't have triple coupons this week.) Combined with coupons I got on-line, I also got a free 2 liter of Diet 7up, and an 8lb. bag of Iams cat food for $4.16. With four kids and a large extended family to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for, even if I get items I don't need, I use them in gift baskets or donate them to the local food pantry. It has become a challenge each week to see what's the best deal I can get and makes shopping a little more fun. By Andi from New York Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf60758020.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Reuse Kiddie Pool Water For Plants My daughter purchased a kiddie pool large enough to hold an adult sized raft. She sunbathes in the privacy of our yard (I already lectured her about sun damage) and it's less expensive than joining a country club. But the reason I am writing about this pool is because sometimes the wind blows the cover off and it fills with leaves, dirt, twigs... I told her to let me know when it's time to change the water and I'd use it to water the veggie garden and plants. Need to figure out a pump system because dragging that bucket back and forth is for the birds. By Holly from Richardson, TX Editor's Note: For pumping out the water, you could try using an aquarium siphon. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37524841.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print RV Warranty Repairs Tip We recently bought a 2007 RV and the saleslady told us to look the unit over for things that might need repairs. I made a numbered, detailed list of items with a numbered label that corresponded with the repair. I placed the label on the location of the repair that needs to be made on the RV unit. When my husband took the RV to the RV shop, the service manager was impressed with the repair list and the corresponding label; he said it would save the service technician time when locating the item that needed to be serviced. I taped the repair list inside the RV unit television set. The top of the repair list was the name of the RV, year of the RV, serial number, model number, purchaser's name, address, city/state/zip, phone numbers, and date of purchase. I kept a copy of the detailed list of repair items in our RV file so when the unit is returned to us, we can double-check our list against the RV to see if all the repairs were taken care of. By WandaJo from Tennessee Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf47849112.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Summer Crafts For Bored Kids Kids get bored during the summer and taking them places can get expensive. Try doing a craft project once a week. Something easy and cheap. Make paper hats out of newspaper, make paper planes out of computer paper. Use old can good cans to create stilts, dough out of flour. This will fill time once a week and you won't feel guilty about tossing items after the excitement wears off. By Carol from Massachusetts Editor's Note: We have many nice Crafts for Kids at ThriftyFun. Click Here for Crafts for Kids Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf12888015.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Drive Slower To Save Gas My commute to work is approximately 19 miles. Where I live, gas prices are between $3.19 - $3.39 per gallon. I've found that driving between 5-10 miles under the speed limit has helped stretch my gas a little bit. Even more when I drive at 45 mph. Although it does tend to offend drivers, I try not to let it bother me because I know I'm saving gas as well as money! By Barbara from West Union, OH Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf25803191.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Diatomeceous Earth For Eliminating Fleas To eliminate fleas on your pets, and in your home, use Diatomaceous Earth. It is finely ground crustacean shells, a fine powder to humans, but sharp edges that cut through the fleas outer shell. I found it on the internet, it also kills ants, cockroaches, bedbugs and flies. It can also be fed to pets and livestock as a dewormer. By Karen from Ozark, AL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf21400841.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Stretching Boxed Macaroni and Cheese We are a family of six. Two of the six are teenage boys. To stretch my food bill, I buy generic Shells and Cheese. When serving it, I use two boxes, but only use one of the cheese packets. Then the next time that I want to serve mac and cheese with dinner, I boil plain macaroni and use my other cheese packet left over from the last time. One cheese packet is more than enough cheese. I personally love home made mac and cheese, but the kids like the cheese in the Shells and Cheese. By Liz from New Baden, IL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf12568744.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: Keeping MS Word Formatting Box Out of the Way In MS Word, when I am typing a document and the formatting is getting in the way, I'd like to turn it off - but I would still like to be able to change the font and add bold - how do I do this? This comes into play when I download a recipe and want to make changes or add notes to a section with bullets. By Holly from Richardson, TX Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf31146879.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Repairing Formica Furniture I have an older cabinet with formica top from 50' 60's Is there places you can get these items repaired? I live on the border to Detroit. Also, it has some sort of rubberized trim that is made to look like wood and it is all scratched. Teach me to try to drive my convertible with a cabinet in the back seat... it snapped off and the shelves hit the road, luckily no one was hurt. This is the good side, the other side is scratched and I would like to fix it. I appreciate any advice. Thanks, Laura-Lee from Ontario, Canada Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37013218.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Floor Tile and Wall Colors for a Black and White Kitchen I have a black and white kitchen - white cabinets with black handles and black and white speckled cabinets. We currently have a black and white checked floor tile that we are planning on replacing as it is hard for me to keep clean. I am looking for advice on colors for floor tiles and a wall color that goes well with black and white. Mary from Morgantown, WV Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf64819806.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print What is a Bundt Pan? Please, can anyone tell me EXACTLY what a bundt pan is? i find many recipes using this item but i don't know what it is. Thanks. Cettina from Malta, Europe Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf22871678.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Fixing Craft Disaster - Garish Paint While cleaning out my father's garage I found an unpainted plaster of Paris wall decoration shaped like a cluster of roses. It looks like something from the '50's. I painted it and what a disaster! The colors came out much brighter than they looked in their little containers. The result is cheap and garish. I'd like to redo it but don't know how. The paints were labeled "All Purpose Craft Paints". It doesn't say what kind they are or how to remove them. Soap and water didn't work. They don't smell like oil and they're not shiny like enamel (the finish is dull and chalky). The paint is thick, very hard to spread and has no smell. Does anyone know how I can remove this or paint over it without destroying the plaque? Joan from Chesapeake, VA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf36867607.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Weed and Feed on New Grass How long after grass seed has grown can i apply a weed and feed to kill the weeds without hurting the new grass? Hardiness Zone: 4a Teresa from Winthrop, MN Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf82632541.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Skin Fungus on Border Terrier Mix My 2 1/2 yr old border terrier mix has a skin fungus type thing on his belly towards his back legs. I took him to the vet (Banfield) and was confirmed was a fungus. Anyway, I got the pills and shampoo and with the exam/visit it came to over $200! He has been doing great and it seemed to clear up, but now I just looked again and it looks like the same thing. I was wondering if there is any home remedy I could try before taking him to the vet which I can't afford $200 each month. But will if I absolutely have to. Just moved to a new area, so looking for a more affordable vet anyway. Any ideas? Thanks, Sandra from Arizona Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf11077601.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Getting a 4 Year Old to Look Forward to School How do I help my 4 year old to want to go to school? My daughter doesn't want to go to school next year and tells me she's not and I don't like it. Just wondered if anyone else has encountered this? Trish from KY Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf92833598.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Wine Stain from Polyester Camisole How do you get red wine out of a polyester camisole? Any help would be appreciated. Junebug from Long Beach, MS Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf35050547.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Outdoor Light Using Electricity When Turned Off I have a high electric bill so I was looking into reasons why. Someone said to check out our outside lights. Come to find out one of the light posts had electricity going into the ground around the posts. If you stuck a meter into the ground near the post it read 110 amps. So I replaced the wire from the foundation to the post and got a new post and light. When I checked it after all that it still did the same thing. I also noticed that even though the switch is off the energy saving bulb I put in flashes. The other night It flashed 41 times a minute. I noticed that the longer the light is on the faster the flashing is. I also did not turn the switch for a few days and turned it on for a minute and it only flashed once every 2 minutes. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this? Greg from Uxbridge, MA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf39197154.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Covering a Bird House With Bird Seed I would like to cover my bird houses with wild bird seed. Any suggestions on what to use to make it stick? Marcia from RI Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf71264257.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Cigarette Smell on Leather Furniture How do you get nicotine smells out of a leather suite? Annette from UK Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf35033980.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Hiding a House Key Outside Does anyone know of a creative, secure way to store an extra house key outside? We don't want to do something obvious like put it under the door mat, but we want it as close to the door as we can. I know you can buy fake-looking rocks to put a key in, but I was wondering if anyone has any free ideas! Thanks! Kathy from SD Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf87981380.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Bioidentical Hormones Have any of you used the Bio-identical hormones? If so, can you tell a difference, how long did it take for the improvement. Your experience with it? Jean from Athens, GA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf87467679.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing the Name from the Back of a Jersey I have a football shirt which has a name stuck on the back, which I would like removed. The letters have the plastic feel of thread tape. I've tried to pick it off with no success (I've even placed it in the freezer, based on advice given to me). Does anyone know the best way to remove this label. Thanks Geoff from Australia Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf27964387.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print SOS Pad Stained Toilet Our cleaning lady used an SOS pad inside the toilet, and now there are gray stains! I let it soak twice with toilet bowl cleaner and scrubbed, and it helped a little, but is still there. What can I do to remove the stains? It's grayish and you can see where she was scrubbing. Any help is appreciated! Mary from Spokane, WA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf68597297.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Carnation Instant Breakfast Recipe A while back I saw a recipe for homemade Carnation Instant Breakfast, of course I didnt write it down, and now I wish I had. Can someone please send me that recipe? Thank you, Jamish from Ransom, Kansas Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf52226197.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Squirrels Eating My Apples This year, we are over-run with squirrels. They are even picking green apples off my tree, taking a bite out of them, then tossing them to the ground. A late freeze killed most fruits, so I'd like to keep the few apples I have left. If anyone has ideas on what to do to deter these pests, I'd appreciate all the help I can get. Susan from Arkansas Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf194846.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: Foreclosure "Rescue" Scams For any of you threatened with foreclosure, please read the article linked from ThriftyFun to Business Week. There are scammers who are trying to steal what equity you have. - "As soon as a lender raises the red flag, scammers descend. Here's how they wind up holding the deed" Read more here: The Foreclosure "Rescue" Racket Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf71987457.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Saving Money on Camping It's camping season! Here are tips for saving money on camping trips from the ThriftyFun community. Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf48326397.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Sewing Stretchy Fabric Tips from the ThriftyFun community for sewing stretchy fabric without warping. Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf113737.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.