Daily Thrifty Tips - February 13, 2008

Vol. 7, Num. 31, February 13, 2008 (Read It Online) Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Check out the Valentine's Day section on ThriftyFun for lots of tips and advice: http://www.thriftyfun.com/Valentine's%20Day_1110.html 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: Valentines Through The Years Home Made Suet Ginger Bear and Mocha Bear (Pomeranian) Today's Tips: Add an Asterisk to Your Favorite Website Bookmarks Make a Garden Holder for Your Cell Phone Reinforce Sneaker Heels With Duct Tape Wet Your Fingers To Open Trash Bags Compost Stems From Flower Arranging Product Review: S Curl - Curl Activator Add Fireplace Ashes to Fertilize Planting Beds Leave Your Car at an Airport Hotel Add Your Own Nuts To Fast Food Sundaes Substitute Canned Tomatoes for Fresh Joke of the Day New Requests: Advice On Painting Kitchen With Green Countertops Making Sugar Soap to Clean Walls Removing Water Marks from Stainless Steel Dishwasher Front Managing a Self Storage Facility Perennial Plant Suggestions PayPal Reviews Riding Lawnmower Won't Shift Out of Neutral Removing Double Stick Tape From Varnished Door Vonage Phone Service Reviews Inexpensive Places to Get Married in Phoenix Overloaded Main Breaker Panel Cooking a Stewing Steak in the Oven Turning the Ringer Off on a Brother All-in-one Unit Inexpensive Basement Finishing Removing White Heat Stains From Polished Wood Removing Nicotine From Black Lacquer Art Panels Getting Rid Of Goat Heads Cleaning a Dooney & Bourke Purse How Long Can Meats Be Safely Frozen? McCall's Pattern #8719 (3-Hour Separate) DNA Testing for Ethnicity Keeping Sugar From Becoming Hard Removing Blood from a Pillow Top Mattress Buying Bulbs for Tanning Bed Fixing Burn Mark from Iron on Black Dress Natural Remedy for Bags Under Eyes More Reading: Romance for Less 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: Valentines Through The Years This is a collection that my husband has made for me for Valentines Day for a number of years. We've been married 57 years so you can see the romance has not gone out of our marriage. A styrofoam heart reads "My heart is never heavy because you're mine". He glued hay (we are farmers) on one. It reads "Hay you! I love you!" I hope you can read some of the others. By Frances from Tarzan, TX Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf45262078.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Home Made Suet One way to make suet is to save the fat cut off of your meats. If I don't have enough to make a large batch, I've frozen the fat until later. Then I render that fat and add to that various things such as stale cereal, bread, cracker crumbs, oatmeal, you name it, anything grainy. I'll add the ingredients to the rendered fat. Mix it up until it's rather thick then pour it into a sandwich container. Place it in the fridge and when it has hardened, I pop it out and put it in a wire suet holder. I've also used small muffin cups and then placed these in recycled onion bags. Have fun! The birds love this. I've never made anything and placed it out for them that they didn't eat. By Teena from IN Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf76939120.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Ginger Bear and Mocha Bear (Pomeranian) This is Ginger Bear and Mocha Bear. They are 2 1/2 years and 1 year old Pomeranians They love attention. Agility and puppy store shopping. Both girls are very photogenic, her is their audition pictures for advertising jobs. Ginger will be on a sign for Target stores this spring. By Chris from Farmington, MN Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf35913625.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: Add an Asterisk to Your Favorite Website Bookmarks Put an asterisk * in front of any of your Bookmarks categories that you'd like to show at the top of your bookmarks list. Since the categories are listed alphabetically, this is helpful when you have a category that would usually require you to scroll far down your list. If you are an avid scrapbooker like I am, for example, you can soon tire of scrolling your list of bookmarks to get to SCRAPBOOKING. Once you've edited it to *SCRAPBOOKING it will appear at the very top of your list. By Lee from McMinnville, OR Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf31863730.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Make a Garden Holder for Your Cell Phone Stay in touch while gardening by making a holster for a cordless phone out of an old shoe. Nail an old shoe to a stake and place it in the garden to hold the phone. Now there's no more running back into the house to grab the phone, and the phone stays out of the dirt. Source: Typical Mary Ellen By Mom of 1 from Wilkesboro, NC Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf80873809.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Reinforce Sneaker Heels With Duct Tape I put a strip of duct tape on the inside heel of my sneakers. It seems a hole is always wore in the lining of the heel before the other parts of the sneaker is worn out. By Janet from LaPorte City, IA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf48367171.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Wet Your Fingers To Open Trash Bags Not able to get those trashbags open with out a fight? Wet your thumb and index finger with water and rub it loose. By Sanmar from Albuquerque, NM Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf13544563.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Compost Stems From Flower Arranging I love fresh flowers and buy carnations every two weeks. (carnations last for a very long time). Since I usually get two large sprays from Costco, there are a lot of stems to cut, and to throw away. While cutting the stems over the kitchen sink, I collect the tips. Then when I am finished, I just scoop the stems in which the flowers came. I am cautious of what I throw in the garbage disposal. Then I can just add the stems to the compost pile or toss them neatly. This will not win me any prizes, but it sure makes my flower arranging easier! By Christine from Sterling, Virginia Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf88091163.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Product Review: S Curl - Curl Activator I am now 44 and have only just got to grips with my curly hair! The magic product as far as I am concerned is S Curl, curl activator. It is designed for Afro Carribean hair, which mine is not, however it is a fantastic product. I simply wash my hair, wrap it in a towel to dry it off a bit, spray in a leave in conditioner and scrunch in some S Curl, then I comb it and leave it to dry naturally. I have never had so many positive comments. S Curl can also be used to freshen up the curls in a morning, again just scrunch it in. Best of all, it's very cheap, I have just paid 3 pounds for a 24 ounce bottle that will probably last me over 6 months. By myrtle may from UK Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf70260160.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Add Fireplace Ashes to Fertilize Planting Beds Don't know what to do with those ashes? This is a tip for those who have ash from a wood burner or fireplace. Place it in your garden or flower beds over winter, not all in the same place, just here and there. In spring as you till/working the ash in the ground, you'll find how it makes your ground so much more lose and easy to work with. I also think there is some added fertilizer that naturally comes from the ash. It really does good things to your ground. Can't wait for spring, have had enough of winter. Here in WI. By Adele from Sheboygan Falls, WI Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf27256000.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Leave Your Car at an Airport Hotel When traveling, consider staying at a hotel close to the airport and taking the hotel's shuttle bus to and from, leaving your car at the hotel (most have these accommodations, just inquire about it). My parents do this. It's much easier than having to having to fight heavy airport traffic, etc. By Terri from NV Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf68187227.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Add Your Own Nuts To Fast Food Sundaes If you or your kids love nuts on your sundaes from Dairy Queen or other drive-up ice cream places, bring a baggie of nuts from home. The ice cream shops usually charge 50 cents or more for nuts and a family of 4 could save $2.00 on one visit. Source: thought it up one night By graycat926 from Bolton, CT Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf98032998.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Substitute Canned Tomatoes for Fresh The price of fresh tomatoes keep going up, up, up and I use them almost daily. I have started using the canned tomatoes instead of the fresh and it really does save money! One brand I really like is the Del Monte Garden Select Sliced, I open and drain the juice into another container, which I save and use in cooking for liquid in other recipes. Drain the sliced tomatoes and they are ready to use on a sandwich or cut up in a green salad. They are also great in my broccoli or pasta salad instead of the little cherry tomatoes I used before the tomato prices went up. I watch for canned tomatoes on sale. Almost every week, one of the stores I shop at has one of the tomato brands on sale. The juice saved from draining canned tomatoes can be used later in a variety of soups and sauces. Nothing is wasted! By Bobbie G from Rockwall Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf11108863.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Dear Webby's Joke of the Day A middle-aged woman was driving through a school zone when a policeman pulled her over for speeding. As he was giving her the ticket, she said, "How come I always get a ticket and everyone else gets a warning? Am I too flat, or is it my face?" "No, ma'am," explained the officer, "it's your foot." Read More Jokes Here: http://webby.com/humor New Requests: Advice On Painting Kitchen With Green Countertops I have oak cabinets with a honey finish, tan color tile, hunter green counter tops with ultra silver steel appliances. What color should I paint the walls? Any help would be appreciated. The walls are yellow now and they are driving me nuts Lance Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf62013330.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Making Sugar Soap to Clean Walls Can anybody tell me how to make sugar soap for washing walls? Mike from Australia Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf33294268.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing Water Marks from Stainless Steel Dishwasher Front My dishwasher front is Stainless Steel and has these streaks that do not come out with the stainless cleaner I bought. Does anyone know how to get rid of these water marks? Karen from Coral Springs, Florida Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55877034.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Managing a Self Storage Facility My husband and I are going to manage a self storage facility. I could use some help in choosing businesses to target for marketing . I would appreciate any help and any ideas about the marketing since we are brand new at this. Thank you all, Terri from Indiana Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf27929099.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Perennial Plant Suggestions I have placed a single row of cement blocks to help retain the soil on a slope in my backyard. Could anyone suggest a plant or flower which I could plant in each of the holes in the top of the blocks? Possibly a perennial which would spread over the side and hide the blocks. Hardiness Zone: 8a Daisy from Waverly Hall, GA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf49752652.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print PayPal Reviews Have any of your winners in the US or Canada experienced any problems with PayPal? Over charges, double charges, unauthorized pull outs? Thanks and I really love your daily updates, recipes, tips, and crafts! Anya Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf12008869.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Riding Lawnmower Won't Shift Out of Neutral My husband used our ride on lawn mower for two days in a row. Then it wouldn't shift out of neutral Does it seem as though the transmission is shot? We were given the mower, it isn't new. Rae Ann from Templeton, CA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf53447531.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing Double Stick Tape From Varnished Door My daughter had a long mirror attached to her closet door with the double sided tape it came with. Now my daughter, and her mirror, are gone but the tape is still stuck hard to the door. Any suggestions on how to remove the tape without damaging the door? It is varnished pine. Doodle from Browns Mills, NJ Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf89746079.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Vonage Phone Service Reviews I was wondering if anyone uses, or has had experience with Vonage. I don't use my phone much for long distance, maybe once every week or two. My present phone company charges almost $50/month. Vonage advertises for $25/mo with unlimited calling. Marcia from Malden, MA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf52254432.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Inexpensive Places to Get Married in Phoenix I'm getting married in December. I have a really low budget because I don't want to spend thousands of dollars for one day. I need to find somewhere cheap but elegant for my day. Cynthia from Phoenix, AZ Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf60972699.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Overloaded Main Breaker Panel My Westinghouse main breaker is going bad. We took the load off by wiring our electric furnace to a separate panel. We can no longer get a Westinghouse main breaker, as they don't make them. The main breaker no longer smells hot or feels hot. Do we need to worry anymore now that the load is off of the panel. Please help. ryholman from Montrose Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf95239481.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Cooking a Stewing Steak in the Oven My daughter put stewing steak in the oven without browning it first, will it be edible, tasteless or tough? Cazzbees from Lancashire Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf91504837.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Turning the Ringer Off on a Brother All-in-one Unit How do you turn off the ringer on a Brother Model MFC-240C all in one unit? I have it set to TAD response and only want to turn off the ringer without affecting any other features. Bob from Manassas, VA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf30257137.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Inexpensive Basement Finishing I want to fix up a room in my basement for my kids to hang out/play in. Currently it is an unfinished basement, but we do have rooms framed up. The exterior walls are insulated with plastic sheeting over the insulation. We cannot afford a traditional basement finish. Does anyone have ideas for an inexpensive fix up to make the basement more warm and inviting to be in? (ie: wall treatment, flooring etc.) Would love to see before and after pics from anyone who has done this. Terrie from Twin cities Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf72858451.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing White Heat Stains From Polished Wood How do I remove white heat stains from polished wood? yvonne Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf89896235.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing Nicotine From Black Lacquer Art Panels I have four black lacquer panels inlaid with mother of pearl depicting the four seasons. The lacquer has become marked with smoke /nicotine and I would like to clean the panels without damaging them. Kane from Brighton, UK Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf76215715.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Getting Rid Of Goat Heads Goat Head plants are THICK in the yard. The whole yard is covered! Each year the problem multiplies. I have tried spot spraying with Round Up. It kill that plant, but doesn't seem to kill seeds that are ready to sprout. I have been pulling weeds for 3 days now, and the stickers that lay on the ground seem to jump at you when you try to pull up the weeds. I am on very low income, so if you can help, I would really appreciate it. Also, once I get rid of the plants, do you have any suggestions on how to get the spurs out of the yard so that we can finally walk on it again? Hardiness Zone: 9b Susan from San Bernardino, CA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf86756579.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Cleaning a Dooney & Bourke Purse How do I clean my Dooney and Bourke bag? Erica Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf639396.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print How Long Can Meats Be Safely Frozen? I have just had to clean out my freezer of its meat as both my husband and I had stomach upsets after eating chicken that had come from the freezer. How long can various meats be stored in the freezer before it is unsafe to use? Deb Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28282742.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print McCall's Pattern #8719 (3-Hour Separate) I am looking for a McCall's pattern #8719. The pattern offer came from a Woman's Day 2/18/97 issue. I have searched online to no avail. Any ideas of where to find it? It doesn't matter what size because I feel sure I can adjust it. This was called a 'Three-hour Separate' pattern. I long for the days of simple dress patterns and have given up ever hoping to find a style that suits me in a store or catalog. Can anyone help? Mrs. Vicki Mason from Concordia, MO Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf93026294.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print DNA Testing for Ethnicity I keep getting unsolicited emails and snail mails from genealogy companies. They say they can do a DNA test to determine my ethnicity. I'd like to do this because I don't really know what I am. Every time someone on my family tree dies a little bit more information comes out. I grew up thinking I was this, now I find out I'm that. But can these places be trusted? Do they really just test for ethnicity or do they also test for diseases and stuff and sell that information? Does anyone know? Has anybody ever dealt with one of these places? Thanks for any help. Jo from Hampton Roads, VA Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf44466367.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Keeping Sugar From Becoming Hard I keep my brown sugar in the bag and it gets hard when I want use it for the next time. When I tied it and put it up in the cupboard, it still gets hard. What can I do? Dorothy Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf162909.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Removing Blood from a Pillow Top Mattress My girlfriend had an accident with my brand new pillow top mattress (she got her period). Any ideas on removing the blood stain? It's about the size of a PDA or PalmPilot. Anthony from Clearwater, FL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf96021765.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Buying Bulbs for Tanning Bed I just got a tanning bed and was wanting tips on buying bulbs for it. PebblesSC from Branchville, SC Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf70980644.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Fixing Burn Mark from Iron on Black Dress I burnt a black cotton dress with a too hot iron, can I fix it? HELP! Maureen from Harrison, NJ Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf66005543.tip.html Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print Natural Remedy for Bags Under Eyes What's the best natural way to 'depuff' eye bags? Rikku from Manila, Philippines Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf51109081.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: Romance for Less By Kelly Ann Butterbaugh Men, Valentines is fast approaching, an often costly calendar date. Be creative, romantic, and frugal this Valentines. Keep the cliché It's the thought that counts in mind when planning this day. Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf18901693.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.