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Thrifty Tip Contest
(May 16 - 22, 2009)

This contest is over. See the winners and other entries below.

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Duration	Entries
May 16 - 22, 2009	47

Tip: Preserve Fresh Bouquets for Potpourri

May 18, 2009

Last December our mother passed away and we received many beautiful fresh flower bouquets. After the service, my sister and I took all the flowers home, remarking how beautiful they were and what a shame they would die.

Comment Was this helpful? 31

Advice For Selling Jewelry?At the age of 49, I know I am getting on in years and want to spend more time with my grandson. When cleaning out my jewelry box, I noticed just what items I have held on to that will never be used again, or are broken or have missing sets too.

2 Answers Answer

Cleaning a Computer Mouse Ball That Keeps Sticking?My computer's cordless mouse was not working right. I opened it and used a Q tip dipped in alcohol to clean the little roller bars and ball. The alcohol dries very fast. I put it back together and now it works like brand new. Of course, always check the battery too.

Golden Parmesan PotatoesPeel potatoes and cut into large bite-size pieces. Combine flour, cheese, salt and pepper in bag. Place a few potatoes in the bag at a time, moisten with water, and shake until coated.

Honey for AntisepticDid you know that honey could be used as an antiseptic? If nothing else is around, get it off the kitchen shelf and apply it just like the old Egyptians used to do.

2 Comments Comment

Make Smoothies With Fruit WasteI make a lot of edible fruit bouquets which produces a lot of fruit waste. To minimize this, I began saving the "scraps" and tossing them in the freezer. To my surprise, the frozen fruit makes great smoothies and I even use them to flavor my water.

4 Comments Comment

Making a Cake Without Eggs or Oil?The other night I had a boxed spice cake mix but no oil or eggs. My cupboards were pretty bare. The box called for 1/3 cup oil and 3 eggs. I had some mayonnaise and used 1 cup of it, 1/2 tsp of baking powder and about a Tbsp of sugar.

5 Answers Answer

Solar Lights to Help Older Dogs SeeOver the years, we have been blessed with many dogs that have achieved old age. As they did, their vision was often compromised because of cataracts or macular degeneration.

7 Comments Comment

Carry Wipes in Your PocketbookJust a quick tip for the ladies. When you are out and about make sure you carry flushable wipes in your pocketbook. You never know when you'll have to "go" and the restroom will have no toilet paper. It's a life saver!

6 Comments Comment

Distract Bees With a Sugar Soda JugThe bees were so bad, I could not sit on my front porch. A friend of ours gave us this contraption that was a plastic bottle with holes in it, that you hung on a hook.

2 Comments Comment

Organize With 5 Gallon Plastic BucketsHome and especially garage organization can be as short as a trip to your local fast food restaurant. Five-gallon pickle buckets have a huge list of uses: fishing, gardening, storage, etc. They are usually free, and you are doing the green thing by not filling the dump.

5 Comments Comment

Reusing Plastic Soap DispensersAfter being married for 54 years, I finally decided I needed some "store bought" liquid soap dispensers. I found some attractive ones for my master bath at Target.

6 Comments Comment

Use Margarine to Remove Oil Based PaintTo remove oil based paint off clothing spread margarine on spot and scrub with a toothbrush. I was amazed!

4 Comments Comment

Use Plastic Tablecloth Under a Decorative TableclothI put a cheap plain white flannel back plastic table cloth over my dining room table then put my nice decorative table cloth over it. The white cover does not show, but protects my table from spills and warm items.

5 Comments Comment

An ambulance outside
wreckage from a
national disaster

Donate Usable Yard Sale LeftoversMost of us "thrifty people" have yard sales occasionally. We usually have in the contents of our sale, items that we no longer use or want. After a sale there are always items that didn't sell. Let's all remember the less fortunate and donate our leftover items.

7 Comments Comment

Preventing Soap Scum on a Tub?I sprinkle a little Epsom salts to my bathwater to prevent soap scum. The soap seems to float on the top of the water rather than becoming a scummy ring, then goes down the drain.

1 Answer Answer

Product Review: Riddex Plug-in RepellerI got 2 of these and plugged them in, one above the dogs' dishes and one above the kitchen counter. I never saw any difference in the number of bugs crawling around. After about 2 months, I went to unplug one and it went flying! The back of the unit itself was covered in roaches!

10 Comments Comment

Save Manuals for Tools and AppliancesThere have been a lot of posts here at ThriftyFun from people asking for manuals. When you buy any product, don't throw the manual away. Keep a large folder strictly for manuals.

1 Comment Comment

Save Produce Bands for GardeningSave the velcro wrap that comes on loose leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, boo choy, and other supermarket vegetables. Use them for tying up your vines or tomato plants. They won't harm the plant and they can be cut smaller.

Sponge Baths For DogsIf your dog hates a bath like mine do, I give them a sponge bath. Fill the sink with water and wet them with their own face cloths. Soap them up and rinse them off. Towel dry them and they are now clean once again.

1 Comment Comment

Uses for Bread HeelsWe use the ends of bread (heels/left over pieces) for bread pudding. We put the 'leftovers' back into a bread bag and refreeze them. After thawing them for the second time they are already a little 'dry' and perfect for bread pudding.

2 Comments Comment

Using Coupons WiselyI have been a staunch couponer for years. One year, I kept the money I that I saved and was able to buy a new washer and dryer at the end of the year. Two to five dollars a week at the grocery store adds up.

9 Comments Comment

Using Juice in Canned FruitDuring the summer months I save the juice from our canned fruit. I do one of 4 things with the juice.

5 Comments Comment

Don't Let Your Dog Chew on Corn CobsI know some bigger dogs love corn on the cob, but PLEASE don't let your dogs eat the leftover cob! It doesn't digest in their stomach and if it gets clogged, he could need surgery to get it out.

10 Comments Comment

Find Plants on FreecycleThis spring, I put a request for perennial plants on a site called freecycle.com and received so many replies I picked up more plants than I could use. The extras, I shared with friends and family.

1 Comment Comment

Frugal Wrinkle ReleaserInstead of buying pricey wrinkle releaser, when the fabric softener bottle is almost empty fill it half way with clear water, shake and pour into a spray bottle. It works exactly the same was as the $4.00+ per bottle stuff in the stores.

7 Comments Comment

Grocery Bags As Garbage BagsOur family has recycled grocery plastic bags as trash bags for years. We use small plastic trash container about 12 inch diameter and 14 inches high. We have one in each bathroom, kitchen and laundry room.

22 Comments Comment

Keep a Sock Bag for Mismatched SocksWe're constantly losing one sock in a pair. I started keeping unmatched socks in a bag as I put laundry away. Every time I'm putting a load of laundry away, I check the unmatched sock bag in case I can find a sock to match the "new" unmatched socks.

7 Comments Comment

Kid riding in a car.

Kids Car GamesHitting the road with the kids means hours in the car listening to them complain about being bored. Well, never fear the old games we used to play are still around and to top it off you can create some new car fun. Who needs the car video player or hand held games?

6 Comments Comment

Make Your Own Sugars For BakingIf you don't have decorator sugar, you can make some by placing 1/4 cup granulated sugar into a re-sealable plastic food bag. Add the desired food color, one drop at a time.

1 Comment Comment

White Frosting on Cake

Making Smooth White FrostingThis makes a silky smooth pure white frosting. Simply replace the butter with white shortening in your favorite vanilla frosting recipe and add clear butter flavoring and clear vanilla.

Non-Chemical Cures for Head Lice?I am a huge fan of Dawn soap. You can let it sit on stained clothing and it takes the stuff right out. But the best thing for the use of this soap other than it's cleaning ability is for lice.

1 Answer Answer

Product Review: Spray and Forget Roof and Siding CleanerThis product is amazing! You spray it anywhere you want to remove algae and moss, or to stop it from to growing. Just put it into a garden sprayer, and spray it on once a year, then every time it rains, it binds with the rain and starts working.

3 Comments Comment

Protect Your Important Documents in Your FreezerProtect your important documents (insurance info, car titles, warranties, etc.) by placing them is a zip lock bag in your freezer. Should a fire occur, they will not be burned.

5 Comments Comment

Shoo Fly Jars in Every RoomTime to get those large glass jars out and fill them with crinkled up (very important) aluminum foil and water and then set them around to repel flies. It takes up to a day for them to notice they are there.

5 Comments Comment

Use Your TV for Dough RisingSo you have not updated to one of those slick, slim TVs yet, and you want to bake some bread? Believe it or not, if your TV is on, it make a nice warm spot for you dough to rise.

3 Comments Comment

Variation for Knitting a ShawlOne way to vary the knitting on all of your shawl projects is to practice using different knitting combinations of purl and knit to make patterns. (A knitting book will show you how).

Break Down Organizing Into Manageable TasksI used to be very disorganized; that wasn't the problem. The problem was I had no way to sort things out that felt comfortable to me. But in 1991, I was unemployed for a few weeks and decided to occupy myself by solving the problem once and for all.

4 Comments Comment

Check for Energy Draining Devices at NightCutting back on your electrical usage can be easy IF you know where to look. This exercise must be done after dark, with the lights off, if possible.

2 Comments Comment

Garnish Wine With Frozen GrapesFreeze grapes before they go bad. They make a wonderful garnish in wine and keep it cool! Place red grapes in white wine, and white grapes in red wine! You'll be the hit of the party. Enjoy

3 Comments Comment

Make Your Own Cleaning ClothsWho needs paper towels? This is a truly frugal idea I had several years ago. Do you have old t-shirts waiting for Goodwill sitting around? Cut them horizontally from the bottom of one sleeve to the other, basically harvesting the flat cloth beneath the sleeves.

3 Comments Comment

Pet Care in Hot WeatherI was watching the Dog Whisperer and he said if a dog gets overheated in the summer, the best way to cool him off is get them to stand in water up to their bellies. Dogs will cool off faster this way rather than spraying them with water on their backs.

4 Comments Comment

Product Review: Head-On Headache RemedyHead-On is a product that has been made fun of on TV, but it's a product that works! I get headaches a lot, and sometimes they go into migraines. You can use as much as you need, just rub the stick all over the forehead, and it does take away the pain, most of the time.

1 Comment Comment

Save Plant InstructionsEvery season I find myself going to the internet to see which trees and shrubs should be pruned and when. I ran off a copy from one site, but it didn't cover all the different plants I have.

6 Comments Comment

Tilex Fresh Shower to Kill Household AntsUse Tilex fresh shower to kill ants in the house. It stops the instantly and practically melts them. It smells great too. The only downside is that it has no residual value. Once it is dry, they walk right over it. I sprayed a colony and it killed it instantly.

2 Comments Comment

Transfer Onions to Naval Orange BagsWhen I buy 3 pounds of onions, they come in a mesh kind of bag. But as time rolls along, the onions' skins come off, fall out of the bag and make a mess. I found that using a 8 pound naval orange mesh bag seems to keep the skins from going everywhere.

1 Comment Comment

Collect Smooth Stones For Hot Stone MassageWant to treat someone to a relaxing moment? Here's a frugal way to show them that you care. Collect smooth stones from your yard or from your beach travels, wash them and gently heat them for a special spa therapy at home.

2 Comments Comment

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