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Today's Tips

I Don't Shop In January

I stop all spending during the month of January. The constant barrage of ads in December makes January my favorite month to do this. I pay the household bills, but everything else goes on hold. I feed the family from the pantry and freezer which helps to do an annual cleaning out of both of those systems.

It feels good to "make" it through the entire month without buying anything! It also makes us grateful for the things we have and we all save tons of time too!

By Sue Williams

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Making Second Hand Clothes Look New

My kids wear hand-me-down and second hand T-shirts, pants and shorts. To keep them from looking like what they are, I iron (even the T-shirts) with store brand wrinkle release spray. The clothes end up looking crisp and brand new. I use an old pillow case to cover T-shirt decals to keep them from melting to the iron.

Then make sure to hang the T-shirts on hangers instead of folding them.

By Matinga

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Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

8 strips bacon
1 small onion, diced
4 cups water
2 large potatoes, cubed
Corn - Fresh, frozen or canned
1 can condensed milk
Salt and Pepper
2 TBS. Flour

Directions:

In a hot deep skillet cook about 8 strips of bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and drain well and set aside. Drain all of the bacon fat except 1 Tablespoon. To that add 1 small diced onion and cook until transparent.

Then add about 4 cups of water and 2 large cubed peeled potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Add corn (I have used 4 ears of fresh corn on the cob by taking a knife and removing all of the kernels) and also add the cobs as this gives a nicer flavor to the chowder by adding the milkiness of the cobs. If you like you can add frozen corn or canned corn.

Add 1 can of condensed milk to the pan. Cook until the corn is fully cooked, if using corn on the cob. (Remove cobs if you added them.) Add fresh ground pepper and salt (I use sea salt). Remove about 1/2 cup of the liquid from the pan and add about 2 tablespoons of flour using a whisk to incorporate the flour and whisk away until all lumps are dissolved. Add this back to the pan and heat until everything is hot and add the bacon (which I break into little pieces by using a rolling pin).

This is wonderful with home-made bread and a very hearty meal in the winter time. Hope you enjoy this as I've had this recipe for over 40 years. Happy eating.

By Joesgirl

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Dog Joke

This is a very corny joke but every time I hear it I laugh.

There was a master and his dog sitting around a campfire on the tippity top of a mountain. The dogs tail caught fire. What did the master say?

Answer: Hotdog

By Joesgirl

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Costume Treasure Chest at Clearance Prices

Well, Halloween is fast approaching and soon it will be all over but the belly aches. Start thinking now about those Clearance sales that will have those pricey costumes discounted to practically nothing. Make a costume treasure chest for that budding actor in the family. Right now, you can buy the accessories like wands, crowns, fairy wings, swords, pirate hats, fireman gear, that sort of stuff fairly cheaply and wait until the clearance sales for the big ticket items.

Also rummage through your own closet, slips make great dresses and evening gowns. Old hats and ties can be added. How about that old vest you can't bring your self to wear but can't throw out either? These will be truly loved by some child. You can make necklaces and bracelets cheaply with beads. Have fun and be creative.

By Debra in Colorado

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Inexpensive Furniture at Yard Sales - Shop Around

I have been able to get some great deals on furniture at yard sales! You really have to shop around because at one sale you may see a kitchen/dining room type chair for $12 and the next place something similar will be just $2. Chairs with damaged straw seats can be used outside as a planter. Just replace the straw with window screen (in a bowl shape), cover the screen with newspaper, fill with dirt and plant.

My best recent deal was a bedroom suite (single canopy bed, large desk with a shelf unit, desk chair, 3 small chests and a full length mirror with stand). It is an older set, solid wood and has pretty painted flowers. One of the chests is in my living room and I have gotten loads of compliments. I also got the quilt bedspreads thrown in and it was all just $60! I've been to yard sales where just the bed has been $60 so you have to be patient and shop around. Good luck junking!

By Ann

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Recycling Printer Cartridges

I was standing in line at the post office the other day when I
noticed a display with little zipper bags for recycling printer
cartridges. I almost passed it by, thinking that I didn't want to
pay the postage to mail mine in, when I noticed that the plastic
bags are already addressed and POSTAGE PAID. What an easy (and
frugal) way to help the environment!

By Cindy B. in PA

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Extra Counter Space In The Kitchen

My kitchen is very small and has very limited counter space. When I have a big cooking session I pull out my two top drawers and cover them with my bread board or cookie sheet to give myself extra room to work.

By K. Cooper

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Regifting

How many of us have received a beautiful sweater that did not fit or was not our style, or received a gift that just did not fit us or our homes? Before you put that brand new item in your next garage sale why not put it in your gift closet. As long as you don't give it back to the person who gave it to you, you will be getting a second life out of something you would just get rid of anyway. Besides, you know that Aunt Martha bought that sweater with love for you and that is all that matters right? You know her intent. But your good friend will love and cherish the sweater and it is just her size.

By Debra in Colorado

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Cheap Home Office Desk

Get two 2-drawer file cabinets for hanging files (metal $59, Plastic $38 at Staples or used for around $10) Set them up 2 feet apart, and lay a flat interior door on top. Unfinished, those are around $20. Put the lock cut-out at the back and bring all your cables neatly up through it. Done.

By DearWebby
http://webby.com/humor

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Bleach and Water for Sanitizing Clean-Ups

For fast sanitizing clean ups, get a spray water bottle and mix a small amount of bleach (a cap full) and fill the rest of the bottle with water. Keep it next to your sink (somewhere away from the kids) and when there is a mess, just spritz and clean up. Fast and clean.

By Heather Foy

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Blanching Vegetables

I use a plastic mesh lemon bag to blanche my veggies in boiling water before freezing. I bag them in quantities ready for recipes so they are ready to pull from the freezer any time I need them.

By K. Cooper

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Burgers for Camping

When camping I always put my ground beef into a one quart ziploc bag and press flat before we go. When we're ready to cook burgers I
just score the bag with the spatula, cut the bag open and I have patties all made up. Sometimes you have to push the sides in so they'll hold together, but it sure saves your hands from getting greasy.

By K. Cooper

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Use Cooking Water for Plants

Use cooking water (water that you have boiled eggs in, or cooked spaghetti, etc) to water your plants (make sure it has cooled completely). It not only saves on water, it's great for the plants as well.

By Leann D

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Flat Gem Mosaic Table

These tables are an easy project and you could even get your kids to help. This can be done on plastic wood or glass. Find your self a pattern for a simple stain glass project. Geometric work best. Lots of patterns can be found on the internet. Trace your pattern on to your surface. Fill in your design with flat gems. I use silicone caulk as glue as it will stand up to outdoor use, wait 24 to 48 hours until glue is really dry and gems are firmly affixed. I like to use light color grout but you can use any color you like. Grout the flat marbles. Now you have a table you will get raves about.

By Debra in Colorado

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Dishwashing - Water Saving Tip

Instead of rinsing dishes under running water when dishwashing, fill a basin with rinse water and a small splash of vinegar (the vinegar neutralizes the dish detergent and leaves the glasses sparkling). You can reduce your water usage twice with this tip if you save the used rinse water to flush the toilet!

By Leann D

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Plastic Pants Hangers For Drying Art Work

I'm a professional artist and like Cheryl of Misssouri I have found another use for the Plastic Hangers you can receive from purchasing clothing.

I use the pants hanger, the ones that are sqeezed together when two metal clips are pulled downward in order to clamp the clothing in place. I use these for drying watercolours, pen and ink drawings and screenprints in my studio.

I hope this helps some other starving artist out there.

Thanks,
Ron Thompson from Alabama
http://ChimeraArts.org

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Keep Bacon from Shrinking

Tired of that pound of bacon shrinking away to virtually nothing? Shake the strips in a little flour and fry away. Stops shrinkage!

By Dona L

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Kid Friendly Pizza

Ingredients:

A package of Hoagie rolls or french rolls
1 can of pizza sauce or left over spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice

Directions:

Split the rolls in half and spread with sauce, add toppings of your choice. Top with Cheese. Nuke in the Microwave for about 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on your microwave.

These can be made ahead of time and put on a cookie sheet in the freezer until partially frozen, then put into plastic freezer bags. They work great for a quick afternoon snack or a fast portable dinner on the run.

By Debra in Colorado

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Garden Post Wedding Decorations

These are beautiful and easy to make. I used small paint buckets to do this because they were white and we had pastel colors but you could use any pot that would fit your theme or colors.

Fill each pot 3/4 of the way full with plaster of Paris. Insert into the center of plaster one 6-8 foot piece of PVC. Add flowers around the PVC pipe and let the plaster dry. I left the PVC pipe white but you could always spray paint it before you put it in the pot.

Now you can wrap ribbon around the post too. At the top I took long lengths of ribbon and tucked them inside with a piece of tape to hold them in place. Then I made a bouquet to put into the top.

With the streamers hanging down they looked like May poles. For any evening wedding you could string small christmas lights from the top to the bottom so that the plugs could be plugged in. These are also easy to transport for outdoor use.

By Debra in Colorado

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