Daily Thrifty Tips
Volume Four, Number 92, April 8, 2005
http://www.ThriftyFun.com
Hello,
We are not going to be able to publish an issue on Saturday so the next issue we send out will be Monday. I hope everyone has a nice weekend.
Thank you ItsRainingBargains.com for sponsoring today's issue. You can find more info about ItsRainingBargains.com at:
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Thanks for reading,
Susan
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Today's newsletter contains:
Today's Photo Contest Entries:
- Sasha's First Birthday! (Lab/Australian Heeler)
- Sabrina (Miniature Pincher)
Today's Tips:
- Saving Money on Coffee
- Organizing Shoes With Photos
- Storing Paint Cans
- Hanging Tools
- Twist Ties and Rubber Bands
- Avoiding Workbench Clutter
- Storing Items In Baby Food Jars
- Storing Sandpaper
- Saving Gas Tips
- Cooperative Gardening With Friends
- Preventing Cats from Littering Your New Plants
- Plant the Plants You Buy Quickly
- Stain Remover For Set-In Stains
- For Better Potato Pancakes
- Car Maintenance For Older Cars
- Creating Your Grocery List
- Apple Juice For The Skin
- Cheap Filters for Air Purifier
- Swapping Clothes With Friends and Family
- Small Soaps
- Finding a Pet
- Emailing Photographs
- Lists of Things to Do For Kids
- Cold Soap Recipe
- Homemade Soap
- Watermelon Pickles
- Caramel Bars
- Scotch Haggis Main Dish
New Requests:
- Getting Rid of Possums
- Make Your Couch Smell Better
- Organizing Earrings
- Punk Rock Birthday Party Ideas
- Fixing a Running Toilet
- Getting Rid of Tiny Black Ants
More Reading:
- Time For A Dog Bath? Dog Bathing Tips For You And Your Dog
- Safe Natural Treatments for Head Lice
- Make a Personal Recipe Binder
- Help! Prices Keep Going Up!
Search ThriftyFun Using Google: Click Here
Today's Sponsors
Love a Bargain? Then you'll love ItsRainingBargains.com!
Love a Bargain? Then you'll love ItsRainingBargains.com!
Updated daily with new deals, and commentary. Don't forget to
subscribe to our very popular newsletter!
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Today's Photo Contest Entries
Sasha's First Birthday! (Lab/Australian Heeler)
This is Sasha's first birthday. You may remember Sasha from the picture we sent when she was "adopted" from the shelter. This little Lab and Australian Heeler is the most loving pet.
By Sandy
See previous Sasha Photo Entry
View Article: Click Here
Sabrina (Miniature Pincher)
This is Sabrina, she's a MinPin. She enjoys chasing the cat (who usually starts it) and her favorite treat when she's been good is dehydrated broccoli!
By Anna
View Article: Click Here
Submit a tip with a photo or a pet description with a photo and you could win a Digital Camera! You can enter the photo contest here:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/photo_contest.ldml
Today's Tips
Saving Money on Coffee
Tips for saving money on coffee. Post your ideas below.
My husband works construction and with it being winter here he takes a thermos of coffee with him as well as a large cup to drink on the way. We were going through coffee pretty fast. One day I decided to put half of a scoop of coffee into the filter that was already used to make coffee for the thermos, added the water and watched how the coffee started to come out. The result was great! We could not tell the difference in the first pot and the second. This saves a half of a scoop every day and we no longer are buying coffee as often as we were.
By RoseMary B.
View Article: Click Here
Organizing Shoes With Photos
To better organize my shoes, I keep them in the boxes they came in and attach a picture of them to the end panel, so I'll know in a glance which pair is in which box.
By Donna
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Storing Paint Cans
Before storing paint, put some paint on the top and side of the can so you can easily see what color it is. If the can is almost empty, transfer it to a smaller container since paint cans take up a lot of shelf space. If you may want to try to recreate the color in the future, write the color information on a piece of paper and tape it to the side of the paint can.
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Hanging Tools
If you enough wall space, hang shovels and other garden tools upside down on your walls. For smaller tools you can get a peg board that you can mount on your wall and fit with a variety of pegs and hooks and store tools that you need to have handy.
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Twist Ties and Rubber Bands
Twist ties work well for wrapping up power tool cords and keeping wires together. Rubber bands also have a variety of uses and are good to keep handy. Take an old bike inner tube and cut it into rings to make some heavy duty rubber bands.
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Avoiding Workbench Clutter
Keep a garbage can right by your workbench to keep debris from cluttering up your work area. If you have more than one work area put a trash can next to each. Try to find convenient place to store items like safety goggles so that they are near where you used them the most, hanging them on the gall by your table saw for example. Keep a small hand broom near your work bench to sweep debris into a garbage can.
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Storing Items In Baby Food Jars
Baby food jars are great for storing small nails, screws and other items so that they are easy to see. You can put the jars in a old spice race to keep them together. You can also attach the metal lids to the underside of a shelf, the jars can then hang from the shelf and be seen easily.
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Storing Sandpaper
Store your sandpaper in a three ring binder. Just uses some pocket folders to keep the sandpaper organized by different grits in the binder. Label the binding of the three ring binder "Sandpaper" so that it's easy to see when sitting on shelf.
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Gas Saving Tips
Keep tires properly inflated. Low tire pressure creates drag and requires more gas. If tires are kept properly inflated, it can save as much as 3 to 5 cents per gallon. Think of it as getting a half-gallon of gas for free when you fill up. Otherwise, you lose a half-gallon because of your weak tire pressure.
Plan ahead for traffic. When vacationing or driving through big cities, call ahead to find out about traffic snarls or road construction. Idling in stop-and-go traffic is the number one fuel eater.
Drive the speed limit. The faster you drive the more fuel you use. Driving at 65 miles per hour (mph), rather than 55 mph, increases gas usage by 20 percent. Driving at 75 mph, increases fuel usage by another 25 percent.
Lower the air conditioning temperature. It takes about 5 to 8 horsepower to run the air conditioning. Rolling down your windows isn't such a good idea either. Both create drag and require more gas to keep up your speed.
Dont use your air-conditioner unless you have to.
By ReneeG
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Cooperative Gardening With Friends
Organize your gardening with friends. You plant the tomatoes, she plants the zucchini-then you share the bounty. Next year switch so you don't deplete the soil.
By Linda
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Preventing Cats from Littering Your New Plants
When I dug a hole and planted a tree, the cats decided to use the soil as litter box. Not wanting my new tree to be killed, I inverted a plastic tray from the nursery-the big mesh kind, and cut a hole in the middle the diameter of the tree trunk, and then cut into it from one edge to the hole. I slipped this around the tree trunk and the cats won't go near it.
By Linda
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Plant the Plants You Buy Quickly
Given to buying flowering plants on impulse and not getting them into the ground before they die, I have made myself promise to get plants into the ground the day I buy them. This may mean I'm gardening under a halogen lamp, but less dead plants!
By Linda
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Stain Remover For Set-In Stains
I used the following method to get out some set-in stains (red jello and spaghetti sauce mashed in and dried in the dryer, other unidentifiable stains noticed after clothes were dried.)
Make a paste out of Shout gel (or your favorite stain remover or detergent) and baking soda. Scrub this on stain with a firm toothbrush until as much is gone as possible with scrubbing. Then splash on a little white vinegar and let it foam for a couple minutes. Rinse with water as hot as is safe for fabric. Pretreat again with a little more stain remover or detergent and toss into regular wash cycle immediately.
This saved several of my toddler's outfits.
By LynnB
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For Better Potato Pancakes
When making them, instead of putting flour, into the potato mixture, put in potato flakes, from Hungry Jack or any instant potato product.
Hope this works well for you.
By Jo-Ann Iwachiw
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Car Maintenance For Older Cars
Tips for maintaining an older car. Post your ideas.
If your planning on keeping that old car or truck instead of making payments on a new one like I am, don't forget to have the alternator re-built and mark your alternator so that the mechanic brings you back your own alternator, not someone else's. Buy new spark plugs. I recommend buying Gate hoses and belts. You pay a little more but they do last and the company stands behind their product. It sure beats being stranded and calling a tow truck and buying a new motor for the old car.
By Jeff
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Creating Your Grocery List
To keep from over buying at the store I always make a list the night before buying groceries. My husband and I do it together, we make sure all staples are covered and the meat and the veggies. We then check all the non food items and write them down. We then estimate the cost of the items including tax and then add about 5.00 in case of low estimating. If I don't go over the estimate I use that 5.00 for any extra items I might have forgotten or just want. More often than not I have more than 5.00 to spend on extras.
By RoseMary B.
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Apple Juice For The Skin
Drink fresh apple juice daily in morning. It will keep your skin fresh and growing.
By Sadia
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Cheap Filters for Air Purifier
Save the thin foam from box packing. I use it as filters for my ionizer or air purifier. Just cut and fit to size.
By Phyllis LaCroix
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Swapping Clothes With Friends and Family
Many people talk about having "clothes swaps" with friends for their children's benefit, but you can also benefit yourself and your husband by doing the same thing!
By Robin
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Small Soaps
Small bars of scented soap make great sachets! Just slide a bar or two of wrapped, scented soap into your drawers or closets.
By Robin
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Finding a Pet
If you would like a purebred dog or cat but don't want to pay what the breeders want for a puppy, try looking at your local animal shelters, rescue groups, or on http://www.petfinder.com. Most of the time you can find what you want for a fraction of the cost and the adoption fee usually covers shots and the cost of the spay or neuter. Many times the animal has needed vet attention that is a little out of the ordinary and they will usually cover those costs in the adoption fee as well.
By Robin
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Emailing Photographs
We live a long way from family and we like to send snapshots we take to them so they can see our children and what we have been up to, but pictures are expensive to send through the mail.
The post office is also not always careful with the handling of things. So we have started scanning our snapshots and emailing them to our friends and family. It costs us nothing and our friends still get to see what we have been doing!
By Robin
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Lists of Things to Do For Kids
To make your evening less hectic with the kids try making out a list of things they need to do. At supper make out the to do list.
Make one for each child. Instead of verbal instructions to each child and getting them to remember this helps our evening go smoother. As they get each one done they check it off, at the end of the list we do a quick inspection on how they did and lavish them with praise for a job well done. It gives them a little more independence and the feeling of being nagged by one more thing to do is not an issue.
Don't forget to put a fun item at the end to make the list easier to get through!
Example:
Take out trash
Put away your laundry
Lay out your clothes for school
Eat a bowl of ice cream!
By Gracey
View Article: Click Here
Cold Soap Recipe
This is a recipe that my grandmother used to make (as did her mother) and she always said it's good for an all purpose type soap, meaning laundry, housecleaning, etc.
Ingredients:
- 2 cans Lewis Lye, or any good lye
- 1 cup Borax (20 Mule Team Borax) dissolved in 12 cups water
Directions:
Let stand 1 hour. Measure the dishpan or other large container. Pour water (with dissolved lye and Borax) into:
18 cups warm (all melted) grease (clean strained).
Add 1 Tbsp. ammonia after stirring for a while, and stir constantly, for 10 minutes. Use standard measuring cup for grease and water. Should be getting stiff after 10 minutes stirring. Just before it stiffens, stir in contents of a box or Dreft.
By Robin
View Article: Click Here
Homemade Soap
Ingredients:
- 1 can lye
- 6 lbs. fat
- 2 1/2 pints cold water
Directions:
Slowly add lye to cold water, stir to dissolve. Melt fat and let it cool. Pour into lye and use a wooden spoon to stir until it gets too stiff to stir.
By Robin
View Article: Click Here
Watermelon Pickles
Ingredients:
- Rind of a large watermelon
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 tsp. whole cloves
- 2 cups vinegar
- 8 sticks of cinnamon (broken)
- 1 Tbsp. mustard seed
- Salt
Directions:
Trim the green skin and most of the pink meat from the rind of a large watermelon. Cut in strips about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. Soak overnight in salt water to cover. Use 4 tsp. salt for each quart of water. Drain next day. Cover with fresh water and cook until tender. Drain well. Put cloves, cinnamon, and mustard seed in a cheesecloth bag and add to sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Add well drained watermelon pieces, and cook gently until clear and transparent (about 10 minutes). Pack at once in sterilized jars.
By Robin
View Article: Click Here
Caramel Bars
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup melted margarine
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbsp. margarine
- 3 T milk
- 1 pkg. caramels (32)
- 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
Directions:
Combine margarine, flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, soda, and salt. Use 3/4 of mixture in a 9x13 inch pan. Pat in bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Melt in saucepan, 3 Tbsp. margarine, 3 Tbsp. milk and package of caramels. Pour caramel over baked mixture. Sprinkle on the milk chocolate chips. Put on the rest of the mixture. Bake for 15 minutes more.
By Robin
View Article: Click Here
Scotch Haggis Main Dish
Ingredients:
- 1/4 lb. suet
- 1/4 lb. oatmeal
- 2 oz. currants
- 1 tsp. salt and pepper
- 1/2 pt. milk
- Meat optional
Directions:
Stir and put in bag. Cook in boiling water and eat when hot.
Robin
View Article: Click Here
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Tip Contest
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New Contest Prize! Now a $50.00 Gift Card
In our newest contest we are giving away a $50.00 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 April 15th.
Enter the contest!
Syndication Spotlight:
Here are some publishers that have chosen to publish our tips this week!
Dear Webby's Humor Letter
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New Requests:
Getting Rid of Possums
Does anyone have any ideas how we can keep possums from coming in our yard? We have 3 very small Yorkies that we let out in our backyard and we have to constantly put our flood lights on and go out first to make sure there are no possiums walking around on the grass or walking across our fence.
These things are discusting and are bigger than my dogs. I am tired of worrying if one of my dogs will be attacked by these things. We don't know where they are coming from but there is no place in our yard for them to be living. We will try anything at this point.
Thanks,
Jan from Long Island
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Make Your Couch Smell Better
Is there some way that I can make my couch smell better? I have washed the covers on the cushions but it still smells. Thanks,
Jennifer from Tennessee
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Organizing Earrings
I have a large collection of pierced earrings (post, lever back, hoops etc.) I spend way to much time each morning trying to find both earrings of the pair that I plan to wear. Any ideas how to organize earrings and keep the pair together?
Claudia
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Punk Rock Birthday Party Ideas
My daughter is turning 14 and she is a Punk Rocker! I was thinking of inviting her friends over and we could hang outside and listen to music but other than that I don't know what to do. Please help with ideas. She wouldn't like a pamper party or a luau party, she has grown out of those things.
Thanks for the help,
Karen from Washington
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Fixing a Running Toilet
This may be a tuffy. We have a toilet running and it's probably a flap ball that due to age doesn't seat properly after you flush and lets just a little water pass by. Any of you Thrifty Funsters have a tip for me that I can continue my cheap (er... I mean frugal) ways?
Thank you,
Jim in FL
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Getting Rid of Tiny Black Ants
Suddenly we have tiny black ants in our house! I can't locate their entry origin but I need to get rid of them FAST. We have pets and kids, how can we eliminate the unwanted critters safely?
Thank you in advance!
Melissa in Charlotte, NC
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Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit
your request here: Click Here
Today's Sponsors
Love a Bargain? Then you'll love ItsRainingBargains.com!
Love a Bargain? Then you'll love ItsRainingBargains.com!
Updated daily with new deals, and commentary. Don't forget to
subscribe to our very popular newsletter!
http://www.itsrainingbargains.com/
More Reading:
Time For A Dog Bath? Dog Bathing Tips For You And Your Dog
By Teresa James
Cleanliness and proper grooming can be very important to the continued good health of our beloved pets. But bathing our puppy or adult dog can often prove to be a challenge. There are many questions, myths and opinions floating around when discussing the best care for different dog types and temperaments. Check out these dog bathing tips to get some great ideas so you'll be prepared for your next dog bath and grooming session.
View Article: Click Here
Safe Natural Treatments for Head Lice
By Wayne McDonald
If you are like most parents, you want a safe and effective
treatment for head lice. Most treatments are toxic and are
not recommended for toddlers. Here are three different
treatments from parents. As always, this is not medical
advice. Please check with your doctor if you have any
concerns.
View Article: Click Here
Make a Personal Recipe Binder
By Maria Gracia
A personal recipe binder can be a tried and true friend in any kitchen.
View Article: Click Here
Help! Prices Keep Going Up!
By Cyndi Roberts
Gasoline is going up in price constantly, as are groceries, taxes and other things we have no control over. We are all under pressure to make do with less--be it money or time.
View Article: Click Here
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