Daily Thrifty Tips August 26, 2004

Hello,

This weekend's TF News will be about Freezing Food and Freezer Meals. If you have any tips or advice about that topic, feel free to send them in.

Thanks for reading,

Susan

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Today's newsletter contains:

Today's Tips:

• Keep a Craft Box Handy
• Make Two Meat Loaves Instead of One
• Encouraging Stuck Zippers
• Alternate Uses for Dental Floss
• Brushing on the BBQ Sauce
• 5 Kitchen Cabinet Organizing Tips
• The World's Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies
• Feedback: Look For Low Carb Recipes
• Feedback: Teach Your Kids How to Budget by Example
• Feedback: Alternative Uses for Dryer Sheets
• Feedback: Let Older Children Handle Their Clothing Budget
• Feedback: Recycling Sweaters
• Today's Recipe: Homemade Stews

New Requests:

• Saving Money on Firewood
• Copperhead Snake in My House
• Cat Peeing in One Spot
• Nikki's 1997 AOL CD Collection
• Outrageous Meat Prices

More Reading:

• Do It Yourself Sewing Machine Repair
• Take a Financial Fitness Quiz
• Transfer Credit Card Balances

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Today's Tips

Keep a Craft Box Handy

If you're in the process of making a lot of crafts, keep a lidded storage box nearby to drop things in when you're finishing them or if you have to stop for some reason, then you're things can just be covered and set aside with no fear of losing anything. By Lisa Trudeau

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Make Two Meat Loaves Instead of One

Save time and money by doubling your recipes, and putting half in the freezer for later use. Example: Meat loaf. Cook one for dinner that night, save the other one in the freezer for later. You can do this with many recipes. This may save you money on food by buying in bulk and getting a better per unit price), and in time by clean up being done only once and the prep work being done only once. Once you get this down you may venture into once a month cooking (oamc).

I do this all the time and have found that it works really well for me. I have MS and the fatigue and quirks of the disease sometimes prevent me from preparing a good meal for my family. It is easy for my son or husband to pull something out of the freezer and cook it. And it doesn't really take that much more energy to do the cooking on my 'cooking days'. Just thought this might be useful for some people out there.

By Cindy in PSL

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Encouraging Stuck Zippers

Rub some paraffin wax on zippers that are tough to operate or tend to get stuck.

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Alternate Uses for Dental Floss

Cookie Removal

Use to remove stubborn cookies from a cookie sheet.

Clean Between the Cracks

Use dental floss to clean gook from furniture joints.

Cut Cheesecake

Wrap the dental floss around each finger and slide it through the cheesecake.

Use it As Thread

Works well for sewing on buttons or mending large holes in backpacks or canvas.

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Brushing on the BBQ Sauce

Do you use barbecue sauce on meat, poultry or even fish? I purchased a package of 3 brushes at the dollar store in our area and use one at a time to spread the sauce on the protein that I am grilling. After using it I then wash it well with liquid dish detergent and make sure that I rinse well. I then let the brush air dry and then place it in a baggie and label it barbecue sauce brush. I get a lot of uses from one but when it is time to retire it I have a new one waiting for me. Such a bargain - 3 for $1. Happy barbecuing. By joesgirl

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5 Kitchen Cabinet Organizing Tips
By Fisher Swanson

Clean Your Cabinets

One great way to keep your kitchen cabinets organized is to clean them out every couple of months. That allows you to keep stock of what's in there and get rid of anything that is past its prime or has damaged packaging. Containers with damaged packaging that leak food can attract pest like ants cockroaches and mice.

Organizing Your Cabinets

After cleaning out your cabinets, put everything back in a well organized way. Items that you don't use very often, put towards the back, while having frequently used items within reach. Try to group "like items" together. If you know where to reach for specific ingredients it will save you time in the kitchen. Train everyone in your house to put items back where they got them.

Remembering Where Stuff Is

If you tend to have a hard time finding things stashed away in the back of your cabinets, place an inventory list on the inside of the cabinet door. You can even draw a square and diagram where items are likely to be located. A diagram may also help inform other family members where to put things away which will save you headaches down the road.

Grocery List

Attach a piece of paper to the inside of the cabinet door to write down items that you run out of. Then you can reference it when you put together your grocery list. This is very useful if other people use the kitchen as well, you will know that you have ran out of something and won't spend a half hour looking for it.

Access More of Your Cabinet Space with Lazy Susans

I always keep my eyes open for inexpensive Lazy Susans at garage sales and discount stores. A Lazy Susan is basically a turntable that you can install in a kitchen cabinet or pantry that rotates so you can easily get to everything on the cabinet shelf. This is especially useful for cabinet shelves that are difficult to reach.

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The World's Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg That's it!

Mix them together and spoon on a baking sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes in a 375 oven!

You can also low carb this recipe by using LC peanut butter and Splenda. Increase the egg to 1 whole egg and an egg white. We love these!

By Andrea in NC

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Feedback: Look For Low Carb Recipes

Here's one we have often since we are on the same diet. Taco salad without the taco. Pile lettuce on each plate. Cook ground turkey and taco seasonings. Pile on top of lettuce, then grated cheese, sour cream (a tiny bit), and then onions and tomatoes. Great taste, low carb and very filling. Yummm.

By Rosemary

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Feedback: Teach Your Kids How to Budget by Example

Sometimes, when you get your pay, and the kids say "Gee, Mom, you have 300 dollars, why can't I get that new DVD, CD, game, etc." YOU on the other hand, are wondering how you are going to pay lights, water, gas, food. If you have a game of Monopoly, take the money in the amount of your pay. Now, have them take out for the needed expenses. Then for the surprises like car repair, or the like. Then see what is left over. Then say, "That has to last us a week (or two, if you get paid every two weeks). Show me how YOU would budget, and still have money for all of us." Makes them think just a little bit.

Kris

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Feedback: Alternative Uses for Dryer Sheets

Rub fabric softener sheets across your hot iron to get rid of sticky residue. It also works on removing "burnt" on crud from the bottom of your iron.

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Feedback: Let Older Children Handle Their Clothing Budget

Last year was the first time I did this and it worked great!! My son was 7 and my daughter was 12. I gave each one a set amount of money to buy school clothes and they were responsible to keep track of the amount they spent. If they went over they had to pay for the extra or put some back and if they did not spend it all the extra went into their savings account.

Before I did this my daughter begged for designer this and designer that. Now she asks to shop at consignment stores, garage sales and her new favorite store - Value City.

By Beth

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Feedback: Recycling Sweaters

I use the sleeves of the sweater to make mittens. Trace a mitten shape as big as your hand (or whomever you are creating for) on the inside of the sweater sleeve using the cuff of the sweater as the wrist of the mitten. Cut out the shape, sew along the edges and turn inside right.

By Valerie

The best way I've found is to take the sweater apart and unravel it into a ball keeping it very loose. I take the arms off first, then find the connecting yarn and open them up. Usually, the thread runs from the wrist to the underarm. I cut off the wrist piece & work from there. Then, detach the neck piece & discard, or save for emergency scrap material, Last, separate the shoulder seams.

The front and back pieces will have a few inches of cut yarn, usually. I trim these, and then pull the pieces until I reach the first row that goes all the way across, and ball from there. If you save each piece in a separate ball and use one arm and front or back first, you will know when you've used half of your material, and be able to gauge how much more you have to work with.

I've found that 2 mens XL sweaters will make a nice sized afghan.

If you shop at thrift stores, (of course, wash first) you can find some wonderful quality yarn for just a few dollars. Sometimes, if the garment in the store is damaged, it sells for pennies, You might also ask the manager if you can buy (by the bag) the sweaters that they don't deem fit for sale. Some will be unusable, but most can at least be used for granny squares. Have fun : )

By Doggy

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Other Active Topics

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Today's Recipe: Homemade Stews
By Cindy Sanchez

Homemade stews can vary from those that take a long time to "stew" to those that are a quick fix. No matter the type you choose to make, stew seems to have the power to warm the body and soul. This winter add a little variety to standard stew.

Editor's Note: Today's recipe is too long to post in the newsletter. It contains numerous stew recipes, click the link below to view it.

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New Requests:

Brainstorm: Saving Money on Firewood

Money is tight, we usually buy firewood about this time every year but it is more expensive than normal. Does anyone have any frugal tips or ideas for getting firewood? Sandy

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Copperhead Snake in My House

I found a copperhead in my house yesterday. Saw it in the basement in the morning and came home to find it in my bathroom! I don't know if it was the same snake or one of a pair or more. I have 4 cats and all are good mousers - but I still killed a copperhead before I didn't get any sleep last night! The cats did alert me to something in the bathroom but they apparently hadn't deterred it. I bought moth balls and crystals to scatter. Will it make them leave if there are more still inside? I read on a site for pet snakes that cedar and pine shavings kill them when used for bedding. Should I throw that around, too? Walnut

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Cat Peeing in One Spot

Hi, I just got my cat about 2 months ago from a family friend who got her a few months before from the cat protection agency, Jody (cat) is 8 years old. When she first arrived she was very nervous and was peeing in a couple of places but now she is settled in (not hiding under the bed at every little noise,) she even comes out when guests are in and sits on their laps, but she is still peeing in 1 particular area. I've tried putting her litter tray on that area and she has just gone and found another area. We are getting new carpets down soon, what do you advise we should do? Alysom

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Nikki's 1997 AOL CD Collection

I am trying to get Nikki's 1997 AOL CD Collection and I do not know how to do this. Can you help me? Melody from New York

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Outrageous Meat Prices

We just moved to Florida and I noticed meat prices are very high here. I have searched high and low for somewhere to shop for discounted prices. Even the sale items are expensive. Does anyone know of a good website to buy meat or anywhere in central Florida. Our family is about to become vegetarians unless we can get a break on these meats. Danielle from Florida

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More Reading

Do It Yourself Sewing Machine Repair
By Reuben O. Doyle

Your sewing machine is a wonderfully useful machine when working properly, a frustrating, confusing monster when it's not. Oddly, a vast majority of machines sent to repair shops for repairs, could be repaired at home with little or no technical knowledge.

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Take a Financial Fitness Quiz

"Want to improve your personal finances? Start by taking this quiz to get an idea of how well you've managed your money so far. Choose the score that best describes your current financial management practices." After you take the quiz they give you a score and suggest ways to improve your financial fitness.

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Transfer Credit Card Balances
By Scott Bilker

My husband and I filed for bankruptcy in 1995. Since then we have established good payment records with high interest credit card companies. I'm ready to drop them and transfer my balances to a lower interest rate card(s). When I start looking on the net, I see introductory rates for first time applicants with good credit. I'm having a hard time finding cards with the transfer option.

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Thanks

Susan
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