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Hello,
We have a packed newsletter today. Loads of good tips and 16 new requests.
Thanks for reading,
Susan
P.S. Tomorrow's ThriftyFun News will be about potatoes. Feel free to submit them on the Contest form. It should be a good TF News.
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Today's Photo Contest Entries
This is Squishy. He is a Himilayan that just got back from the groomer, who thought he was a girl! Squishy was brought to my Grandmother's (the local "cat lady") four years ago this month. He was very tiny and very sick. He had a horrible life up until that point. Raised in a puppy mill, bought at a mall pet store at Christmas as an unwanted gift, he was a very sick little ball of matted fur.
I looked into that squished face and fell in love. Lots of care later, he is a lovey, sweet cat that greets me every night when I get home from work at the door. No matter how hard my day was, that sweet little funny face always cheers me up!!!
By Sarah
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Sandy (a Collie) and His Friends
This is our rescued dog Sandy with his new friends. Sandy is about 4 years old, a collie, and we have had him about a year and a half. We got him in Montana. He was part of a big collie rescue that was stopped on the way from Alaska to Arizona. Sandy loves to run and play with our other 3 dogs, collies and a german shepard. His next favorite thing is getting treats and hugs.
By Kathy
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Today's Tips
Saving Money on Flavored Creamers
If you like the flavored coffee creamers, you can get twice as many cups from a jar of powdered creamer by mixing the jar with an equal amount of fat free plain creamer. Cuts calories and cuts the price in half.
Harlean from Arkansas
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My mom used to clean the debris from pinto beans by picking through them one handful at a time. Here is what I do, pour a layer of beans onto a plate, pick out debris, then pour into the pot. Much quicker.
By TANYA
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Keep a basket in each room for clutter. Have the family help clean out the baskets once a week. When unexpected company arrives, simply put the baskets in the closet.
By Chell
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Steam clean your microwave. Add four tablespoons of lemon juice to one cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Boil for five minutes in the microwave, allowing the steam to condense on the inside walls of the oven. Wipe clean.
By Chell
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Hamburger Tips - Making a Good Burger
Tips and recipes for making great hamburgers. Post your ideas.
Extra Juicy Hamburgers
For extra juicy hamburgers, add 1/4 cup of evaporated milk per pound of meat before shaping.
By Chell
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Here's a couple of tips for making hard candy using flavoring oil from the "experience is the best teacher" file.
Don't use plastic measuring spoons. It eats away at the plastic and the plastic will forever smell like whatever the flavoring oil was. (I ruined one of my favorite plastic measuring spoons this way.)
When you add the flavoring oil to the candy, make sure you're not standing directly over the pan. The steam from the oil will make your eyes water for hours to come.
By Camilla
Feel free to post your hard candy tips.
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Tips for removing blood stains from clothing and other fabric. Post your ideas.
Removing Blood from Fabric
I learned this tip many years ago from a person who worked in a furniture factory responsible for cutting very expensive fabrics. If by some chance you find an item with blood on it, find the person's whose blood it is and have them spit on the blood and work it into the stain. It can only be the spit of the person whose blood it is. I have done this through the years and shared many times. You just wash as you normally would after working the spit into the area and let it sit for a few moments.
By MC
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Ideas for reusing bread bags. Post your ideas.
Using Bread Sacks in The Fridge
Rip a bread sack down one side, leaving the bottom intact. Cup the end around a bowl, wrap the rest across the top of the bowl, and tuck the end under when placing it in the refrigerator. It works quite well.
Aunt Sharon from Texas
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The Complete Tightwad Gazette in Hardbound can be found on sale at Barnes and Noble for $5.98 in their discount book section. Or, go online, pay $3.99 shipping. This book is a bible for anyone who lives a thrifty lifestyle. Ordinarily this book is $24.95. Check it out!
By Shannon Wiseman
Editor's Note: It's a good one!
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A way I save time and keep from wasting coupons is to scour the grocery ads as soon as they come in. I have a list that I keep with different stores' names listed in different sections (only ones that aren't too far). When I see an item on sale that I use, I go through my coupons and hopefully find one, then paperclip the coupon on the paper under the store's name. I make a grocery run once a week and hit all of the stores close by and save lots of money.
By Lisa
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After removing the small double cabinet above the refrigerator (because the refrigerator would not fit), I used the cabinet to make an elevated dog feeder for our two dogs.
First I attached rubber feet on the bottom so that it would not move and would not scratch my wood floors.
Next, I cut two holes in the top to place the bowls. It is a terrific feeder, plus there is storage room below. You could look for unfinished cabinet or used one at flea market if you are not as lucky as I.
By EJ
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Cleaning Lawn Chairs and Window Screens
Take your cloth lawn chairs and your window screens to the car wash with you, and do them after you wash the car
By Shirley Rosser
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The Complete Tightwad Gazette
By Amy Dacyczyn
Learn how to save money and resources with this compilation of three successful volumes packed with sensible advice, hints, recipes, tips, tricks, and strategies.
Click here for more information.
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Tips for making cookies. Post your ideas!
Powdered Sugar Instead of Flour
Make cookies taste even better. When rolling out cookie dough, sprinkle board with powdered sugar instead of flour.
By Chell
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After eating at a restaurant, ask for a child's cup to take the rest of your drink home. Not only does this save on your drink so that it doesn't get dumped out (refill before you leave and take it with you), you also get a free drink container. Most of the sit-down nice restaurants have great reusable kids cups with lids (not the styrofoam ones, but the sturdy plastic ones). These can be used over and over again and are dishwasher safe. I still have kids' cups from a restaurant I used to work at 5 years ago!
Pookie
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Craft Uses For Wallpaper Samples
Go to wallpaper shops and ask for the outdated samples. You can make lovely greeting cards and stationary from them.
By mollyanna777.
What are your craft ideas using wallpaper samples?
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Make Your Own Dried Orange Rind (Zest)
Dried orange rind perks up a lot of recipes, but it's very expensive to buy in a jar.
Make your own by grating the rind (not the white part), spreading it out on a dish and placing it the freezer for 2 or 3 weeks.
By Betty Ann Kahn
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With spring right around the corner, here is a tip for pruning rosebushes. Get a medium cardboard box, then use a spring loaded clothespin to grab each branch just above where you make your cut. Leave the thorny branch in the clothespin jaws and transfer it into the box. This sure saves your hands from being jabbed by all those thorns!
By Sandy from Pittsburgh
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Preventing Birds From Hitting Your Windows
I use those little glow in the dark star stickers, I put them on the outside of my windows. You can place as many as you like. It doesn't obscure our view and the birds can see them. Since I have done that, just the odd bird hits the window compared to the many that did before. It really is a life saver.
By Sue Anson
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Seed Cornbread for Birds - For Wild or Pet Birds
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Make the cornmeal according to the directions on the back of the box. Before baking the mix, add the egg, crushed with the shell for extra calcium. Bake according to package directions. Crumble the cornbread and combine with birdseed. Press into muffin tin.
Put treat into an extra seed cup for your pet bird. Don't be surprised if your bird doesn't take to it right away - birds are very cautious about trying new foods.
For wild birdseed treats, use seed for wild birds instead of your seed that you use for your pet bird.
Jenny in KY
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Most checking accounts now include a Billpay feature. My account has Pay My Bills and it is free. It works better for me than Automatic Pay. We have a tight budget, and with automatic payments on my bills, I would have to worry about having enough money in the account when the creditor decided to withdraw his payment. With Pay My Bills, I choose the date the payment is made.
We get our Social Security checks deposited to our account on the 3rd of the month, so I schedule the bills that come in during the month to be paid on the 4th of the following month. I schedule them the day they arrive in the mail so that I don't have to spend a lot of time at the last minute paying the bills.
It saves on postage, also. I have a temporary file for payment pending. As soon as the payment shows in my online bank statement, I move the bill, mark it paid and file it into my permanent files.
By Harlean from Arkansas
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Wait a Week Before Making a Purchase
If you see an advertisement for something you want to purchase, cut it out and save it in a separate folder. One week later look at your folder and see if that must have item is really a "must have". Often times it was not.
By Greg
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Mix together. Do Not Drain pineapple! Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
Icing For The Cake:
Directions:
Soften cream cheese and butter at room temp to make mixing easier. Mix both these ingredients together first. Then add vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until creamy
By imaqt1962
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Microwave chocolate chips and peanut butter in 2 quart bowl on medium for 2-3 minutes or until melted. Stir after each minute.
Then fold in marshmellows.
Butter an 8 inch pan, pour mixture into pan and chill until firm.
Cut into squares and enjoy.
Makes approximately 2 dozen.
Note: You can melt the chocolate and peanut butter over the stove if desired, just set your burner setting to low heat so the chocolate doesn't burn.
By imaqt1962
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Boil first 4 ingredients, then add peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over oatmeal. Drop spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool and enjoy.
By imaqt1962
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on low heat on the stove (or microwave if desired) stirring constantly so chocolate doesn't burn.
Stir in pecans (if desired).
Pour over pretzel pieces and stir till mixed.
Drop teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet.
Place in fridge till hardened (2-5 minutes).
Remove from the fridge and enjoy. No need to put back in the fridge, these clusters will remain firm. We can't keep these in our house. They are sooo good. By imaqt1962
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottom of your broiler pan with foil, and spray the top pan with Pam. Combine all of the above ingredients and form into the shape of a loaf on your broiler pan. Now in a small dish combine 2 Tbsp of ketchup w/ 1 Tbsp of jelly. (I usually use grape but whatever you have will work) Spread mixture evenly over you loaf. Bake at 375 for 1 hour. The topping sounds a little strange but it is absolutely delicious.
By using the broiler pan, You eliminate alot of the fat and moisture that you get in most meat loafs. This recipe will never come out mushy. My husband hated meatloaf until he tried it this way, now it is one of his favorite dishes.
Trish
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Do this once a week before your week starts. Adjust volume accordingly depending on the number of people in your household.
1. In large bowl, mix dozen eggs.
2. Mix in one full roll of cooked sausage (like Jimmy Dean). I just pan fry this making sure to scramble it into tiny pieces and drain oil before adding it to the raw eggs.
3. Crumbled bacon. To save money, I used the pre-made packs of real bacon bits
Mix everything together and pour into pre-greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes or until inside is done.
Let it cool and slice. Put the slices in zip lock bags for easy reheating and disposal. This lasts for at least a week in the fridge. Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. 2 loaf pans (12 eggs recipe amount above) will give you about 10 slices, or breakfast for two 5 days of the week.
Perfect breakfast bowl replacement.
By Pookie
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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 January 15th.
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New Requests:
I clean gas station islands that have diesel fuel that spills on the concrete. The concrete cleaners from your local hardware stores do not work. Is there anything that will take diesel fuel off easily?
John of Seattle
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I read in a Woman's World magazine that this site will find a military base that will distribute coupons I do not use or need. I would like to know how to go about this. I work in an adult training facility for the mentally retarded and we would like to take this on as a project. Please give me information. We are located in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Tina Pahula
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Looking for healthy oatmeal recipes.
Does anybody have any creative oatmeal recipe ideas that does NOT involve sugar or flour? Meaning no oatmeal cookies, bars or bread. I want to start incorporating oatmeal in our daily diet but plain oatmeal for breakfast gets kind of boring. I would like to stay away from sugar and refined white flour if at all possible since that defeats the purpose of trying to be healthy. I would be willing to use a little honey, fruit preserve or Splenda to sweeten it if necessary. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
pookie
P.S. To the wonderful person (I forgot who) who posted the tip on Thrifty some time back on putting fruit preserves in oatmeal to sweeten it, THANK YOU. it was a wonderful idea.
Editor's Note: I believe the tip you are referring to is here: Sweeten Oatmeal With Jam
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I hate frying bacon! I get the smell in my hair and clothes and I make such a mess and get splattered most of the time. There has to be a better way! I've heard of people putting bacon in the oven. Does this work okay? If so, how long, and at what temperature should I cook bacon?
Thanks!
Erica- TN
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Children's Book Binding Repair
I have a number of children's books that have the binding tore or broken. Is there a good way to fix these well but cheaply? A number of them are copyrighted in the 50's and 60's! Is tacky glue an option? Perhaps some kind of glue that doesn't dry solid so the book can bend? The books are like Dr. Suess books and disney books so they are short books.
Pakjc from Indiana
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Helping A Frozen Rosemary Bush
I just bought a rosemary bush (still in it's original pot) and dumb me left it out and it froze. Well, the leaves are brown now. It still smells wonderful. Now I see 3 or 4 little green shoots coming from the ends of the stems. The thing is pretty much brown all over.
It's now inside and I tried to "thaw it out slowly" by running lukewarm water through the pot real well. Since I'm seeing a few shoots of green now, I don't know whether to cut it back or not. If I do need to cut back, how far. It's already in enough shock already. Can it be saved, I hope and how do I do it?
Also, like I said it still smells wonderful. Even though the plant is brown (from being frozen I suppose), can I still use the leaves and dry them for cooking. I also put them in essential oils and things along that line. Are they safe to use when they are like this?
Thanks for your help in advance!
Jenny in KY
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Looking For Good, Inexpensive Internet Service Provider
I was wondering what internet service everyone finds is the best to use. We are looking for a new service, we have had it with AOL, not only are they expensive but when we called to cancel their service, the customer service rep. gave us such a hassle, my husband was on the phone for 20 mins trying to get them to cancel then when he asked to speak to a supervisor, the rep. told him it wasn't a supervisor matter. Finally they cancelled the AOL. We'd like a internet service that is inexpensive and has better customer service. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Rebecca
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Brownie Pin Ideas - Poland Theme
My twin daughters are in the Brownies. They need to make pins for an exchange. The pins have to be about Poland, which I know next to zero about. The pins need to be easy since they need to make 30 each. Any ideas, easy ones for me since we will need to make two sets. Thanks,
Cheryl from Virginia
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Birthday Prize Ideas For Adults
I'm looking for prize ideas for adult games (men/women age 45-75). It's a 50th birthday party. Only a week away.
Sue from Arizona
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Does anyone know how to refresh dried out marking pens? I have a rather new set and have found that most of them aren't any good. is there any way to salvage them? Thank you!
Carol Overton
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I need some tips on how to fix a crack in dry wall.
Thanks,
Oliver Parker
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I am looking for any home remedies that anyone might have on what to do for muscle spasms. I have had some problems with my sciatic nerve on the left side. The muscles in my left leg were in spasm for 6 days and nights. My back is better, but the muscles in my leg have been traumatized. Any tips concerning this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Tuey
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Does anyone have a recipe for Veal Parmesan, something that won't be too expensive. I'm thinking of making this for my husband on Valentine's Day. Thanks and have a wonderful day.
Kerri in Alaska
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I am hosting my family's first family reunion. All the major planning has been completed. The commitee has come up with different ways to win prizes (oldest member, youngest member, largest family, etc). However, we cannot come up with ideas for the prizes to give away. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Nicole
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Favor Ideas For Adult Luncheon
I am giving an adult recognition luncheon for some adult volunteers. The theme is "you brighten girls lives". I am looking for a very inexpensive favor to give to guests attending.
Gonecrazy
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I would like a recipe for homemade biscuits I am just learning how to cook and didn't find a recipe for biscuits.
Thank you,
Heather, FL
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Today's Sponsor
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More Reading:
How to Plan your Herb Garden
By Monica Resinger
An herb garden can bring a person a lot of pleasure because there's so many things that can be done with herbs such as herbal crafts, herbal teas and herbal seasonings. On top of this, you get to care and tend for the plants which, if this is all you do, is enough reason to grow an herb garden. Seeing how the herbs mingle together and enjoying their fragrance are other benefits.
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Household Printables - Abbys Good Stuff
This is a great site for a lot of free household printables that I thought everyone would like.
Thanks :)
melody_yesterday
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