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Thrifty Tip Contest
(May 15 - 21, 2010)

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

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Duration	Entries
May 15 - 21, 2010	46

Tip: Make Your Own Take Along Coffee Packs

May 21, 2010

I love fresh brewed coffee. To make my own take along packs, I place a teaspoon or maybe a tablespoon of ground coffee into a coffee filter along with aspartame sugar and powder creamer, and fold the filter in from the sides and down from the top.

Comment Was this helpful? 30

Tip: Disguising Wall Water Damage

May 19, 2010

I came up with a quick fix that was cute and decorative for $1.00. I bought a bottle of black acrylic paint at the dollar store and with a fine tip brush, I outlined the top of the damage.

Comment Pin it! Was this helpful? 13

Tip: Place Phone in Purse When Charging

May 18, 2010

Seems like I was always forgetting to put my cell phone in my purse after charging it. Now I just leave the phone in my purse while it is charging and haven't forgotten it since.

Comment Was this helpful? 30

Check For Free Community Summer MoviesMany local communities are hosting Movie In The Park nights this summer. Check your local paper or the community's website for time and date listings. Be sure to take a blanket/ lawn chairs and pillows for the little ones in case they get tired.

2 Comments Comment

Cover Top Of Fridge With Plastic WrapAfter cleaning the outside of my refrigerator, I place plastic wrap or "press 'n seal" over the entire top. Just replace as needed. Saves a lot of elbow grease.

7 Comments Comment

Preserving Seeds From Butternut SquashInstead of buying butternut squash seeds one year, I bought a butternut squash plant. I peeled it for cooking, opened it and saved the seeds.

1 Comment Comment

Quick Decorative Jar CoversDecorating jars of homemade preserves is a cinch with cupcake wrappers, available in many patterns and colors at the grocery store.

1 Comment Comment

Reuse Small Coffee Jars For SpicesHi. Sometimes I buy coffee in jars that look like small storage jars. I use lots of spices so I find them very handy to use as spice jars. When they are empty, this is what I do. It saves on money and they hold so much more than the small ones that are sold.

1 Comment Comment

Use Cloth Napkins Instead Of PaperOur family of four includes two children who can get very messy during mealtime. Instead of having them use cheap one-ply napkins that fall apart the minute you try to wipe your hands with them, I decided to use cloth napkins.

9 Comments Comment

Use Vinegar to Break Down Cat UrineI heard this on Martha Stewart and thought it was worth passing on to all cat lovers. Vinegar destroys cat odors. The enzymes in vinegar breaks down the cat urine. It works really well. I put approximately 1/4 cup vinegar in a spray bottle.

2 Comments Comment

How To Tell if An Egg Is FreshNow that we are back to the two of us and watching our cholesterol, a dozen eggs lasts us a very long time. Being frugal, I hate to throw anything out once it's reached its expiration date, but I don't want to use anything that might be dangerous to eat.

6 Comments Comment

Link: Make Your Own Finger PuppetsI just came across this and thought it would be so much fun for the wee ones to print, cut out and glue! Since school is out for the summer soon the children could make a bunch of them and put on finger puppet shows to enjoy.

2 Comments Comment

Math Fun: Multiplying By NineFor the early stages of learning math, this is pretty interesting. The sum of any number multiplied by 9 will equal 9.

3 Comments Comment

A well packed suitcase with travel basics.

Pack Travel Basics In AdvanceWith vacation time just around the corner, now is the time to start planning what you want to take with you. There are a few things you can have ready ahead of time that will end up saving you valuable minutes as you're doing your final packing.

9 Comments Comment

Remove Fish Smell with LemonTo remove the stinky smell from cooking fish, add a piece of lemon/lime or few drops of lemon to water and rinse off.

Train Cucumbers On Old Wooden ChairIn my garden I put out an old wooden chair which has no cushion on it. I planted cucumbers along the legs of the chair, and "trained" the cucumbers to climb all over it. Looks great and reduces garbage, while having a no-cost creative prop in the garden.

2 Comments Comment

Training a Dog to Ring the BellMy daughter's fiance' taught their dogs Roxy, Cosmo, and Jada to jiggle the jingle bells hanging on the door when they needed to go outside. He started by jingling the bells every time he took them out and they caught on.

1 Comment Comment

Use Baby Wipe with Skin So Soft For FleasHere is one to try for fleas. Take any kind of baby wipes (mark wipes container for pet use only) and add just 1/4 cup of Skin So Soft to the wipes container. This can be used daily for either cats or dogs.

4 Comments Comment

Use Bath Mitts for CleaningI buy bath mitts in the bath section at the grocers and they are wonderful. They are rough and designed to remove dead skin on the body, but I realized they could be used in other ways so I purchased two more pairs. Now I wash dishes with a pair of those gloves on.

1 Comment Comment

Use Oils As Treatment for Head LiceWhen my kids were young, head lice plagued the school system and my long haired children. I do not use chemicals and stories about them not working, costing a fortune, and causing damage just reinforced my choice not to go that route.

3 Comments Comment

Use Paint Sample to Show Cooking ColorsEver share a recipe that requires cooking to a particular color (eg., a Roux)? The next time you are near a paint department, get one of the paint samples that is as close to the color you mean and attach it to the recipe.

1 Comment Comment

ravens on birdbath

Use Removable Inserts In BirdbathI have a lot of bird baths and most of them are made from cement and stone. They are very heavy and my biggest pet peeve about them is that they sit in the sun and they turn green with algae.

9 Comments Comment

Ammonia For Bites And StingsPut non-sudsy ammonia on a cotton ball and apply it to mosquito bites and bee stings. The ammonia somehow neutralizes the venom and poof! No more itchy bites.

2 Comments Comment

Flower leaves from a bulb that have been braided to keep them neat.

Braid Bulb Leaves After FloweringIt may not be pretty, but it is neater while nature stores energy in the bulbs for next year's flowers. Loosely braid the leaves of drying bulbs for easy removal after they are dried. Bulbs need to store energy through the leaves.

5 Comments Comment

Enrich Compost with Blended Vegetable PeelsTo enrich my compost, I save my peels as I'm cooking. I blend them till smooth and I stir them into the dirt of my compost pile. It reduces garbage and enriches my compost pile.

2 Comments Comment

Making Your Own ButterThis is a good food trick to do with your children. We're going to make real butter using heavy whipping cream and your blender. It's easy and a nice way to teach your young ones something about food that they may have never seen.

3 Comments Comment

Oatmeal-Wheatgerm Dog BiscuitsThe main reason I like this is because it is so much healthier for pets than the store bought biscuits.

Use Larger Egg Shell To Remove Smaller PiecesI dropped a bit of egg shell into something I was cooking. Try as I might, I just couldn't remove it with my fingers, spoon, anything! Then someone told me to just use a larger piece of shell to scoop up the little broken piece.

1 Comment Comment

Use Postcards As InvitationsThis is a good way to send out invitations. Go to any store that sells stationary or a book store. Look for a book of postcards that come in packs twenty or maybe fifty, etc. Look for ones with pretty pictures to relate to your type of event or celebration.

1 Comment Comment

Use Shaving Cream For Cleaning Kids HandsShaving cream is a wonderful and cheap way to get kids squeaky clean. Most of the time with a coupon you can get a can very cheap and sometimes free.

5 Comments Comment

Anti Virus Software RecommendationsAre you having problems with virus', worms, Malware, and other such nuisances on your computer? Here are some free software links and advice to set you on a better track while surfing the wonderful world wide web.

7 Comments Comment

Brush Pets Daily to Reduce SheddingYour cats and dogs are busily shedding as much of their winter coats as they can so that they are a little cooler. If you have all indoor pets as we do, that fur is going to end up on your furniture, in the carpet, or flying around the floors.

Give Plants Vitamin TabletsI went through the house and gave each one of my houseplants one or two vitamin tablets depending on the size of the pot. They went wild! In just a couple of days I was seeing fresh green color and new growth.

4 Comments Comment

Product Review: SpiderExHave trouble with Spiders? There is a fantastically effective product called SpiderEx which lasts for months. I sprayed around doors and windows outside and there were no signs of any spiders or webs in the areas for 6 months or more.

4 Comments Comment

Rewind Yarn So it Pulls From CenterIt's always easiest to use yarn which pulls from the center. If you have some that does not pull from the center of the skein, here's a simple solution. Holding the end of the yarn in the heel of your hand, wrap the yarn around your thumb 12 or 15 times.

Using a Glove on Either Your Right or Left HandI'm right handed and while using rubber gloves, I wear out the right hand glove before the left one. When I have two perfectly good left hand gloves, I turn one inside out and instantly I have a right hand glove to go with my other left hand glove.

8 Comments Comment

Added Nutrition in Mashed PotatoesMy son, because of his wife's work schedule has taken over the duty of cooking dinner each evening. He gets home a couple of hours earlier than she. He gave me a wonderful tip when he was here for Mother's Day.

Bed Making TipsKids don't make beds anymore or they don't make them properly. I have two tips just for the bed.

8 Comments Comment

Buy Secondhand Shoes for GardeningI love to garden and, more often than not, I ruin my shoes when I'm immersed in black dirt. I constantly go outside to garden. Sometimes I'll actually remember to slip on my plastic garden shoes...

2 Comments Comment

Children's Fancy Dinner Party

Children's Fancy Dinner PartyEvery summer when my children were home and wondering what to do, they would plan a family "restaurant dinner" night. They had to come up with the menu, cook the food, set up a fancy table, and even make menus.

2 Comments Comment

Magazine Organizer From Recycled Wine BoxI'm sure I'm the only one who drinks boxed wines, but in case there are others of you, here's a great idea. I had the box laying on the dryer waiting to be torn down for the recycle bin when I noticed the size is just about the same as a cardboard magazine organizer.

4 Comments Comment

Making Your Own Hanging Tomato BasketsTake your terracotta pot and make the bottom hole larger by nipping it very very carefully with wire cutters. Drill three holes around the top rim of the pot. Thread three equal pieces of wire through the holes and pull them together, forming a loop.

Model To Get Professional Photos for FreeNeed a gift idea for the man in your life? Check your local paper or craigslist for ads looking for models. Often it's a photographer looking to expand his portfolio.

4 Comments Comment

A craft organizer from a muffin tin and baby food jars, holding supplies.

Recycled Craft OrganizerThis is an organizer for crafts, office supplies, anything small. Wash jars and let dry completely. Lightly sand the muffin pan, paint it black. Paint each jar a different color, make designs, symbols, etc.

Paint the lids different colors, let dry completely.

Setup a "Salad Club" at WorkAt work we have a "Salad Club." There are currently five participants so we have five different lists of ingredients which we rotate weekly. We include 2 types of lettuce, spinach and other various toppings and veggies.

4 Comments Comment

Use Permanent Marker to Label Hard to Read ContainersI literally see nothing but a blur without my glasses and hate to admit how many times in the shower I've confused body wash, shampoo, and conditioner since bottles from the same manufacturer look nearly identical and the product print is too small to read.

4 Comments Comment

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