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Vol. 7, Num. 194, October 6, 2008 (Read It Online) I hope everyone had a nice weekend and isn't getting hit too hard by the stock markets dramatic decline today. It's scary to see these type of declines when so many of us have our retirement in 401k's. There's a disturbing recall today involving several flavors of Blue Cat Flavor Drink. The FDA has detected melamine contamination in some of their drinks. You can read the details about it here: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01896.html Thanks for reading, Susan
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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:
Craft Project: Homemade Fall Place Mats The leaves are changing colors on the trees! What a perfect time to make a personalized Fall place mat for your little ones! We made these last year and the leaf colors aren't as vibrant as they had been when we first made them. We may have to sneak out and grab some new leaves and make another set this year. Approximate Time: 20 minutes or less Supplies:
Instructions:Collect leaves with your child. You may want to press the leaves in between the pages of a heavy book over night if they are curled on the edges.Glue a photo of your child to the construction paper. I glued ours to a piece of solid white paper first, so that it was matted and stood out a bit. Let your child arrange the leaves on the construction paper in any manner they wish to do. When they are arranged to their liking, use a dab of glue to hold each in place. Carefully cover the entire sheet of construction paper with a piece of clear contact paper, pressing out any air bubbles. Cover the backside with contact paper as well. Trim the edges of the place mat with a scissors and then enjoy using it daily! By Michele from East Bethel, MN
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Rate It: Need a quick wreath? Garbage bags cut in to strips, tied on a wire hanger. Any shape a few left over decorations with a little glitter. And all for free.
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Rate It: Kozmo is a 4 year old Pure Bred Persian cat. A friend got him for me 3 years ago.
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Rate It: Maxwell (West Highland Terrier) Maxwell is a 4 year old Westie. He likes to cuddle, chase next doors cat, and watch TV.
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Rate It: Bogey is a 1 1/2 year old Yorkie. We got him a little over a year ago from a breeder in Lake Mary, Florida.
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These contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25!
Use Your Kroger Charge Card To Save We have a Kroger charge card, you get a discount on food or other Kroger products. When we buy $100 worth in a month, we get 15 cents off gas. We get the grocery ads in the mail on Wednesday, my husband makes the grocery list from this. We add things we need, they have some good sales. On certain days we can get milk for $1.99, how much better can it get. Also every three months, we receive four $5.00 checks to spend at Krogers and we know how much we are spending. We have a freezer and when they have TV dinners for .69 cents, we stock up. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf80661505.tip.html
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Rate It: This is not original; however, I have discovered not too many people are aware of this. I have been doing this very successfully for many years. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf57388044.tip.html
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Rate It: Cloth Invasion: Use Fabric instead of Paper When I was trying to strain my brain to see what more I could do to try and help the earth, I looked around for what we used a lot of and just threw away. The most obvious answer was threefold: napkins, toilet paper (which we also used as tissues) and paper towels.
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Rate It: Attach Spare Buttons to Cardboard Here is a tip I hope that everyone can use. Whenever you buy new clothing, you will almost, always get a extra button in case you lose one. Well, I was always losing the extra button, until I came up with this idea. I take the extra button and sew it on to a card or a piece of cardboard. That way I still have the button and I can match it up the garment with the missing button. For extra added insurance, you write a little note to remind yourself where the button belongs (just in case you have two or more of the same buttons). Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf36074966.tip.html
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Rate It: Easy Pumpkin Table Decorations Take a roll of toilet paper, set it in the center of a 20 inch circle of orange fabric or tissue paper. Bring the fabric or tissue paper up around the sides of the toilet paper roll and tuck ends into the roll hole on top. Cut a stem out of brown felt or tissue paper, 3 inches wide by 4 inches long. Roll the stem into a 4 inch long tube, glue if desired, and stick stem into the hole on top of the pumpkin. Source: Saw this cute and easy decoration at a fish boil at our school. By Sandy from Stoughton, WI Editor's Note: This is a cute idea and similar to a craft project we published recently. You can see a photo to it here: Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf47164501.tip.html
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Rate It: This tip is late for this year but (I think) invaluable for the years to come. Get a Christmas Club account at your bank. They either deduct a set amount from your checking account ($20 a month or more) or you deposit monthly. It runs for 10 months and at the end of the time Oct/Nov you get a check for the years' amount plus interest. I'm careless about putting money by every month, but if it's not in the account, I can't spend it and then I have a lump sum when I most need it. One year I had to draw out the accumulated dollars in the summer, but I've done this for a long time. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf975056.tip.html
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Rate It: Removing Cat Hair from Furniture To remove cat hair from your furniture, take a damp sponge and brush it one way across the fabric. It helps ball up the hair and you can pick it off the sponge. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf70478583.tip.html
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Rate It: Aid with Prescriptions - RX Hope Here is a site that offers to help with getting needed prescriptions. https://www.rxhope.com/home.aspx Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf69916120.tip.html
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Rate It: When you leave for vacation, put the milk left in the carton in the freezer. Just be sure the carton isn't full. When you get home, put it in the refrigerator to defrost. It saves money and makes it that you don't need to go out for milk as soon as you get home. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf19297574.tip.html
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Rate It: Substitute Almond Flour In Baking I love to bake but I am doing low carb so I have tried to find a good alternative to white flour. I tried soy but did not like the texture. Recently I tried almond flour which usually isn't on the grocery shelf so I grind up whole almonds in my blender. If I buy salted which are cheaper (about $2.50 an 8 oz can at Dollar General), I just omit the salt in the recipe. I am still experimenting because it doesn't work in every recipe but it makes a great banana bread. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf64477943.tip.html
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Keeping Animals Out of Your Garbage Can We have been having a problem in my neighborhood for the last 2-3 months with some animal (we assume it is a dog) coming in the middle of the night, knocking over trash cans, dragging the trash bag out of it, and then dragging the trash bag into someone else's yard (mostly mine) and digging through the bag. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf917052.tip.html
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Rate It: How do you make round looms? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf480663.tip.html
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Rate It: I am trying to find a recipe for a prune cake my neighbor used to make when I was a child. The recipe called for baby food prunes and apricot juice. It had a glaze that soaked into the cake and made it very moist. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37262165.tip.html
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Rate It: Any ideas on how to do a distressed look on wall panels from the 70's? I wanted to do a nautical type look in my living room. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf63632095.tip.html
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Rate It: Has anyone ever used a Sun Cloud heater? It's an electric heater that only costs 9 cents an hour to operate. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf41958940.tip.html
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Rate It: I washed beige and pink clothes in cold water. Something was in the washing machine that was blue and now everything looks like it been tie died. Some clothes are cotton,nylon, polyester, etc. Clothes were dried on clothes line, not in a clothes dryer. How do I remove the stains? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf81287733.tip.html
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Rate It: A while ago, a friend put up beadboard on 1 wall in the kitchen. I never noticed it, but a seam is showing, right in the middle of the wall. I hate it. Is there some kind of wall liner I can use to cover up the lines of the beadboard and just paint over it? I would appreciate any ideas you may have to cover this up. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf98402704.tip.html
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Rate It: What would be good to take on a airplane to eat and will go through airport security? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf11818652.tip.html
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Rate It: Does any one have a good recipe for fresh apple bread? My mom is looking for one as she had some at a shower and now wants to make some at home. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37350795.tip.html
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Rate It: Which continent is Chichen Itza located? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf74305113.tip.html
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Rate It: I am curious about doing surveys. Is it safe? Is it worth it? Are there any groups to stay away from? Does one really get good products free? Any catches I'd need to know about? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf33093536.tip.html
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Rate It: Balto gas and electric is offering cycling thermostats. It would be set to turn off air conditioning during peak times of use. Then it would save me money. My problem is I am not well (ie. I have Fibromyalgia and allergies). I need to save money but I don't want to make my health worse because of the lack of air conditioning. I don't keep it that cold, but I do keep it on in the summer. Any ideas on this thing would be appreciated. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf75856753.tip.html
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Rate It: What Foods Are Poisonous to Dogs? What foods are poisonous to dogs? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55035144.tip.html
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Rate It: Removing Water Marks from Wood Furniture We have two 'white' spots on our wooden kitchen table that I can't seem to get out. I have tried mayo and Old English. These are from heat and have been there more than a month now. Any ideas how to get rid of them? Thanks. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf939047.tip.html
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Rate It: Removing Stains from Pots and Pans How do you clean stains off the bottoms of your pans? Mine have brown stains from years of cooking and of course, from others in the house trying to cook. Thanks for any information. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf818538.tip.html
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Rate It: Is there a natural, safe repellent that I could put on the house so that the spiders won't get established? I live near a lake, which hatches little bugs in clouds. This brings the tiny spiders that blanket the buildings and landscape plants around here. It's very ugly. I don't want to kill them because more would be arriving soon. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf279075.tip.html
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Rate It: Foliage Accent Palm Turning Brown My indoor palm is turning brown and dying. Any ideas? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf77945006.tip.html
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Rate It: Removing Iron On Decals from Clothing I recently bought some shirts at a yard sale that had glued on decals. How can I get them off? I tried nail polish remover, but it didn't work. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf44125226.tip.html
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Rate It: There have been times in the past when a few fruit flies would come into my house via grocery shopping and they multiplied. I usually make sure there is no good food source for the little rascals, swat the ones I can, and they are gone within a few days. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf697819.tip.html
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Rate It: Is there a way to drill holes or cut holes large enough to fit night light bulbs in the glass lit blocks? I have seen some for sale on the internet that say they are lit by 7 watt night light bulbs. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf99940470.tip.html
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Rate It: Letters Wearing Off My Brand New Dell Keyboard The letters on my brand new Dell keyboard are wearing off. Anyone have an idea of how to stop this? I tried clear nail polish. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf73919386.tip.html
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Rate It: Does your bread stick to the tea towel? When I let the bread do it's final rise the dough is sticking to the tea towel and making my loaves look so bad! Please help! Do I even need to cover it? Is this what our grandmothers used to do when the windows were opened and flies would have feasted on the dough? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf11175814.tip.html
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Rate It: Looking for homemade remedy for colds. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf17329024.tip.html
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Rate It: Keeping Slugs Out of Water Dish How do I prevent slugs from invading my cats' water dish? They do this every night and it quickly fills with algae. What can I do for this? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf50736026.tip.html
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Rate It: I have yellow stains on the folds of all my stored clothes. I opened up a box of stored CLEAN folded clothes and where ever the folds are, there are big yellow stain lines! How do I get those yellow stain lines out without ruining our clothes? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf89508334.tip.html
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Rate It: I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to get rid of moles and skin tags? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf78716630.tip.html
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Rate It: I made a large amount of hotdog sauce for a party. When putting in a touch of cumin, the lid came off. I got most out but it is smothered with the taste. How can I salvage it and get some of the cumin taste out? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55271921.tip.html
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Rate It: Aluminum Foil Stuck to the Bottom of My Oven I got aluminum foil stuck to the bottom of my oven. I already used oven cleaner and it will not come off. What should I do next? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37069437.tip.html
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Rate It: I have a blue baby hammock which I really want to be white. Can anyone tell me the best way to go about doing this? Obviously, I'll have to use bleach, but can I put it in my washing machine? Or will I have to mess about with buckets. Will normal household bleach do the job? Or do I need a certain kind? If I can put it in the washing machine, how much do I put in and do I have to wash it again afterwards to make sure all the bleach is out? Any suggestions, much appreciated, Thanks. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf43553569.tip.html
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Rate It: I will be taking my son's senior pictures and am looking for suggestions for a photo editing software. Most importantly, I need to be able to edit out some acne that he is going through. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf38786940.tip.html
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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:
Tips for Saving Money on Cold and Cough Medicine as suggested by the ThriftyFun community.
Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf86966319.tip.html
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Rate It: Here are tips for saving money on makeup as suggested by the ThriftyFun community.
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Rate It: Drying and Storing Herbs
Most herbs dry easily, and if properly preserved, will retain their flavor and aroma long enough to carry you into the next growing season. As with a lot of gardening, timing is everything. Here are some tips for gathering, drying and keeping them fresh while in storage.
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