Daily Thrifty Tips - March 9, 2009

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Sorry for the delay in sending out Monday's issue. On to the tips...

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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.

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Craft: Leprechaun Trap

This is a picture my sister in law sent me, I'm not sure if she made it, but her kids check it every day to see if they caught anything. It's a leprechaun trap!

By Pico from St Paul, Alberta

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Gardening: Morning Glory Cuttings

I like to take cuttings off of different yard plants and put them in jars on my windowsills. This morning glory actually bloomed.

By Kflocey from Gladwin, MI

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Craft Project: Skinny Chicks

Let kids create several of these quick and easy chicks to adorn their Easter baskets. I plan to mail one to my niece, who is away at college, with a note that says "From one skinny chick to another." Have fun with these cute chicks!

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Ginger (Mixed Breed Cat)

Ginger is a 3 year 10 month old mixed breed cat. She was born here to a Black Momma cat I had at that time. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. She was born March 29,2005. She likes to run all over the house and slide. She also likes to play with a rubber band. She has a cat tree, that she will run and jump up on.

She loves Tuna Fish. She will sit at the pantry door and beg for it. When I get it out of the pantry and show it to her, she will go then and sit on the floor in front of where my can opener is at. Then she runs to the room where she eats at. She loves boxes, she has had this box in the picture for a very long time. As you can see its a box full of a cat.

By Georgie from Jayess, MS

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Lily (Border Collie/German Shepherd Mix)

Lily is 4 years young and I think she is a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix. She was the runt of the litter. I adopted her from my local shelter, or should I say she adopted me. When I went to see her and her siblings to choose one they all loved me and she hid in the corner. When it was time to go, I said "Who's coming with me?" and she followed. She likes to run, run and run and she's the best dog ever!

By Becky from New Lisbon, WI

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Cut Your Brillo In Half

Instead of using a whole Brillo pad, I cut one in half. It's great if you only need to clean a couple of pots or pans. Instead of wasting a whole pad.

By Lynda from Kearny, NJ

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Use Plastic Boxes as Litter Boxes

Our cat Angel tends to miss the mark when using the litter box and will get the floor wet around the box. We've tried litter boxes with covers but she still managed to back up against the entry and urinate out of the box. I finally came up with a new idea that is working very well. We take a medium height plastic storage box and line it with 2 large garbage bags that we duct tape to the box. We have 3 cats and all three seem to be very comfortable with it. The trick is not to get it too high that they have trouble getting in and out.

By Kim from New Prague, MN

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Check and Replace Washing Machine Hoses

"An Ounce of Prevention": As trite as this old adage is, there is so much wisdom in it, as we learned from a "waterfall" which greeted us as we returned to our months old house, after having been out for a few hours one evening. Water was literally cascading down the steps from the rear entry of the house. The source? One of the hoses from our washing machine had split and the water was rushing out all over the laundry room, breakfast room, kitchen and into the dining room.

Our move-in date had been delayed; we stored our household belongings in a transfer truck for about six weeks; and the hose had apparently dry-rotted--although there was no apparent sign of that and we had washed clothes for a couple of months with no problem. Lesson learned: The replacement hose packages state that the hoses need to be replaced periodically, never had noticed that before.

Also it is wise to turn off the water supply to the washer when it is not in use. When we built our retirement home, we had easy to reach turn off valves installed right where the connection is. I hope your readers will be able to prevent similar problems with this little tidbit information.

Source: Experience!

By Sandy from Elon, NC

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Other Uses for a CD Rack

I keep a CD rack by my computer to hold papers for my printer, files and invoices to be paid. It is easy to get the papers I need in a flash.

By Sandy from Halifax, Canada

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Clean Dust From Your CPU

If you have a problem with dust in your house, it's worth it to blow the dust from your computer. You have to unscrew and remove your CPU casing (make sure the power is OFF first) and then use the blower to clear any dust inside the PC. The purpose here, other than for cleaning and regular maintenance, is to prevent spending a whole load of cash at your PC engineer's workshop. You can actually save time and dough doing this, if it's only to prevent your computer heating up and restarting it many times.

By Alison from United Arab Emirates

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Do Without Garbage Pick Up

If possible, do not use garbage pick up. Check with your employer to see if you can put your garbage in their dumpster. You may even ask your church or a local business that does not fill up their dumpster to use theirs.

I recycle all our paper and newspapers at the local school recycling bin, I compost most all our food products, I return plastic garbage bags to the store, and what's left my husband takes to work and puts in their dumpster. If we are doing heavy cleaning and have a lot to throw away we give usable items to goodwill and take the rest to the local land fill.

CAUTION! Please ask before using a dumpster. Some businesses do use the full capacity, some have signs posted and it is illegal to use a dumpster without permission.

By Willow1 from Bethlehem, GA

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Hand Sanitizer for Sticky Hands

Use hand sanitizer on your hands after you've eaten, to get rid of sticky messes when you don't have soap and water available. It removes all traces of "stickiness" and works when dry napkins or paper towels by themselves just don't work.

By Truerblue from PA

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Removing Wax from Hard Surfaces

Simply use a hairdryer to remove wax from wood, tile, vinyl, etc. Just wipe the wax away as it melts. It's easy to do, and doesn't leave any stains.

By Linda L.

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Sharpening Your Knife With Liquid Soap

I know this may not seem important to many people, but I like a sharp cooking Knife. This probably comes from living in Japan. Almost every household has a whetstone. We tend to sharpen the knife at least once a week if not every time we use it. Usually you wet the stone with water, but the water runs off or evaporates quickly.

The solution is to use liquid soap. The knife will glide better and the soap doesn't run off the stone as quickly as the water does. The extra bonus is when you have rinsed the knife off you will have a clean knife; you will have skipped a step.

Source: I saw this on a website that I joined called Instructables. If you like to build things and make crafts they have a lot of "geek" but cool things to make and do. Take a look, or join. It's free and they don't hit you up for money. They send new messages about once a week.

By Tim from Science Hill, KY

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Use a Wooden Clothespin as a Straw Holder

I like to have a bottle of water or pop close by, and sometimes the straws I use have a way of slipping out of the spout. After undoing the bottle several times to retrieve the straw, I looked up and saw one of my trusty wooden clothes pegs (the ones with the hinge.) Well, they fit perfectly around a straw on top of the bottle and securely hold the straw in place. How neat is that?

By Derryl from Ontario

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Pen on a Leather Purse

I have pen marks on my Italian leather pocketbook. I tried using hairspray and a spot remover pen, but nothing has worked. The leather is soft, and the color is tan. The pen is black. Help.

Priscilla from Hartford, CT

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Making a Quilt With Men's Ties

My boys now in their 30's went to catholic schools, 12 years each. They had a contest who could wear the ugliest tie, well I have all these ugly ties and would love to return them to them as a lap blanket or a quilt. I do not sew much, I have a machine, but I would be willing to try! Does anyone have a not too hard way of doing this?

Colleen

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Getting Rid of Euonymus Fortunei

How can you kill euonymus fortunei?

Mary from Mitchell, IN

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Camping Tips and Recipes

I would love to have your ideas for camping recipes. What kind of recipes do you use while camping that are easy over the open fire? It's getting to be that time of the year and we are avid campers. Thank you.

Giney from Montgomery, MI

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Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles

Does anyone know if pharmacies will recycle your empty pill bottles? I take 9 medications every month, 6 of which come in the pharmacy bottles. I don't want to throw them away as I know they can be reused.

I do use some for storing beads. I have used them for storage, when I have mixed acrylic paints and only have small amounts left. I pour the paint into the appropriate sized bottle and smear a little of the paint on the top of the lid so I know what color is inside. But I was just wondering about pharmacies recycling them. Does anybody know?

Sheila from Decatur, IL

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Puppy is Chewing on the Carpet

I have a 7 month old puppy who likes to chew holes in the carpet and eat the carpet. She will not stop. We have done everything that we know of and nothing works. Please help.

Marylynn from MN

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What is Strip-Cropping?

What is strip cropping? Tytiana from East Orange, NJ

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Ideas For My 17th Birthday

I am turning 17 in October. I know that's far away but does anyone have any ideas for my party?

Katelynn

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Removing Burnt Smell From Microwave

How do you remove a burned smell from the microwave?

Sharon from Toledo, OH

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Making Clarified Butter in the Microwave

Does anyone have a recipe on how to make clarified butter using a microwave? No matter how I try, I can't make it on the stove. But I am certainly open to anyone who can give me a simple, fool proof way to do it! Thank you!

metroplex from Houston

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Coconut Oil Diet

Does anyone have the 'coconut oil diet'? I'd love to get a copy of it, please. Thank you.

metroplex from Houston

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Using Leftover Leek Leaves

Does anyone have any good uses for the leftover, dark green leaves from leeks? I hate pitching them, yet I've heard they're tough to eat when cooked.

Crickkette from USA

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What is the Title of This Movie?

What is this movie? I just remember dinosaurs on a beach-like setting. It was B/W, it must have been one of the first dinosaur movies. I saw it in late 50's or early 60's and I watched it on TV.

Liz from Brisbane, CA

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What is the Title of This Movie?

I remember a movie in B/W where a UFO is discovered in the ocean and one of our subs crashes into it. The UFO alien was a blobby thing that was in the center of the craft.

Liz from Brisbane, CA

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Plastic Canvas Corncob Birdhouse

Does anyone have the pattern for a plastic canvas corncob birdhouse?

Eric from Las Vegas, NV

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Scratches on a Plastic Sink

I live in a modular home and the bathroom sinks are not like the regular ones, they seem to be made out of plastic. One of them had a yellow ring that wouldn't clean up, so I used a pumice stone and it scratched. How can I fixed it?

Maria from Sacramento, CA

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What Breed is My Dog?

I have a lab mix but am not sure what he's mixed with. I am looking at an apartment that does not allow pit bulls or pit mixes and am afraid that Shadow has pit in him. Can anyone tell what breed he is?

Bill from New Columbia, PA

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Making Hand-Held Fans

I would like to make the ladies of our church some hand-held fans. Does anyone know how?

Sandy from Mtn. View, AR

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Patterns for Foamies

Does anyone have patterns to make Foamies?

Beverly from Parkersburg, WV

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Bandwaghon Plastic Knitting Frame

I have a plastic circular frame knitter that has no instructions with it. It is by Bandwaghon, Inc. and on the package it says, "Knit-Easy Method: Now you can knit a sweater in one day using this." It appears to have about 70 white pegs in a double semi circle set into a green ring.

I attempted to look up Bandwagon, Inc. Boston, MA on the internet but I couldn't find anything that indicated that they had made this knitter loom. Is there anyone who can help me with any kind of instructions? I'm sorry that I don't have the ability to post a picture. Any and all help will be appreciated. Thank you so much.

Sandra from PA

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What Breed is My Dog?

What breed is my dog?

Jorge from McAllen, TX

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Long Haired Dachshund

I know that my dog Mollie is a miniature dachshund. But judging by what I have read about the long haired type, her hair should be longer than what she has. She is definitely not a smooth hair. Any help?

Bryant from Los Angeles, CA

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Bent and Dent Stores Near Marietta, GA

I am looking for bent and dent grocery stores in my area . I don't have the first clue how to find one.

Peggy from Marietta, GA

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Getting Rid of Black Widow Spiders

How do you get rid of black widow spiders? Is there a natural and/or affordable way to control them? We have pets and a three year old child to take into consideration while searching for a solution.

Shawn from Las Vegas, NV

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Cleaning Down Filled Pillows

How do you freshen feather pillows? I wash my children's pillows in the washing machine, but I can't do that with feather pillows.

Jen from Central Florida

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Tips For Dealing With Stress

I eat right and do a lot of walking. I have a glass of wine or two on the weekends. I do have a lot on my mind with work money and just every day life. I am trying to get my son through some tough stuff, he lost his father less than a year ago. Does anyone have some tips on simple ways to keep my stress down?

Rose from Rartian, NJ

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Caring For Baby Fish

I have a 29 gallon tank and have fresh water fish. I am not sure what kind of fish I have but I think they are tetras. One died so now I have 6 baby fish and one older one. I don't know if it is the mother. I have had these fish for three weeks my question is what should I do now?

James

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Bamboo Stalks Are Yellow

I have a bamboo plant that is turning yellow and squishy. There are three stalks and only one is still green. I have tried everything, but it is still looking bad. Does anyone know what is happening and how to fix it? I have had it for three years and this is the only time I have had problems. Sarah from Statesville, NC

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First Mammogram Tips

I am having my first mammogram tomorrow morning. Any tips on what do before. I hear you can shower but no deodorant or perfume. Why is that? I am kind of nervous but I am 41 and I need to take care of myself and make sure all is good to go.

Rose

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Applying Castor Oil and Detergent to Lawn

I'm going to try using the Castor oil/detergent remedy to rid my lawn of moles. How do I go about applying it to a large lawn?

Maxine from Grandview, MI

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Inexpensive Plus Size Prom Dress

I'm a size 30 and a little short on cash. I need a prom dress in a reasonable range. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please help!

Ashleigh from Richmond, VA

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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

Home Inspection for First Time or New Home Buyers
By Leonard Frick

I have been a home inspection specialist for 35 years. Even with the housing market in as bad a shape that it is, there is still hope. Right now mortgage rates are the lowest they have ever been and this just might be the time for you to buy that home of your dreams.

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Using Fish Sauce

Also Known As:

Nuoc Mam (Viet Nam), nam pla, ngan byar yay (Thailand), nam pa (Laos), teuk trei, patis

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