Your Lesser Known Tips

[Snoopy2645]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

ok heres a few of mine I shop the clearance racks at really expensive stores the past few months in our town which has 1 expensive type store I have gotten bath towels for .99 & yesterday I got my 5 yr old a dress thier for 4.99 SO CHECK AROUND my friend was telling me no one she knew could afford to shop thier I said oh ya you should go in thier once & check out thier clearances!!! Way cheaper than walmart & much better quality heck I cant even afford walmart prices & that is true I cant at least not thier clothes way too expensive for me. OH ya I also got a bed in the bag whole set comforter & all dora too at a expensive type store all for $5

My other is tip the laundry soap upside down when done if you use liquid I have to here because of the piping otherwise I wouldnt but anyways you can get more out by tiping upside down at the end & also I feel it with water after that for 1 more load.

Another is I never pay for long distance I get all my ld free by getting phone cards free off the internet.


I dont buy garabage bags I use only store baggies.
nah I am not a tw at all LOL

[acezz4e_tish]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

i buy chelsey plain white bobbys and the boys the same ones, keds wtih the resistant toe.

[Ima saver]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

new paintbrushes are terific for dusting something delicate that needs a light touch such as a lamp shade or silk flowers.

[flash]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

I dust lamp shades using a lint roller (masking tape). Use a Bounce sheet (or equivalent) to wipe off computer screens, tvs, etc., as it reduces the static charge so they don't attract so much dust.

Okay, here is a truly cheap tip: people have noted in other posts that when you stay in a hotel on travel, take the shampoos, soaps, etc. No one mentioned the cheapy shower cap. But, it's perfect for deep conditioning your hair. Just apply a deep moisture conditioner, oil, whatever, cover with the cap. Then you can either use a blow dryer or warm towel to warm it up, pull on a hat and work in the garden, leave on the shower cap all day, or even after just 30 minutes the "steam" from your head will help warm it enough. When you are ready, wash out the conditioner, and you will have deeply conditioned hair, basically same as salon. And you can reuse the caps MANY times.

[flash]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

A few more...

If you recycle ziploc type bags for freezing and storage, you can do the same with grocery produce plastic bags. Just double bag, or even triple; the air between the bags actually can help insulate it. Same with bread bags.

Meat trays (the styrofoam steaks, meat, chicken, etc comes on from the store) can be washed and used as trays. Works great for kids, especially art supplies, but also to pile cookies on to freeze, or anything else where you need a tray.

You can cut cardboard sides from boxes to make trays, also. Cover them with foil and you can even serve off of them.

My favorite: (I learned this from a quite wealthy friend) if you receive beautiful free cards, calendars, photo books, or any other art, you can frame it. My friend had an incredible set of four indian art work prints, and when I asked her where she found them, she said didn't know, they came in the mail from a charity asking for money. I've since done the same. I even have a picture in my kitchen that looks like a beautiful watercolor of a rabbit and a gardening can -- it's a piece of wallpaper border from a sample book. People ask about the artist all the time. There are ADORABLE kids prints of wallpaper borders, fairies and dollhouses and sports equipment, that look great with a mat and frame. And a calendar easily makes a "collection". Especially easy when you are renting that house with horrible orange carpet; three sunset over the ocean calendar pictures blend right in.

[katwoman]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

i buy chelsey plain white bobbys and the boys the same ones, keds wtih the resistant toe.

OMG!

I thought I was the only one that bought boys crew socks! Same fit!

Doesn't just stink that the boys socks are priced cheaper than women socks?

[acezz4e_tish]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

oh i hear ya there!!!

[lrjohnson]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

flash-I've also used the shower cap as a bowl cover. They sell ones at a high price, but I've only ever used the shower cap and it works fine.

I use glothspins and binder clips for a lot of things. To seal a (rare) bag of cold cereal, a bag of bread, a bag of coffee. I use them to clip things to magnets on the fridge. Binder clips work great on tubes of toothpaste to get to the very end.

To make clothes more wearbale day two and three, when I get home I change immediately into house clothes/jammies. I know a lot of people who dress up do this, but I can wear jeans and a decent knit shirt to work, and I still do it do it. Even with casual clothes, if I'm in for the night it's jammie time.

For slippers I use what I call sleep socks-some I've had forever-old socks, sometimes the mismatched for years socks, that I will rewear a night or two because they don't get real dirty.

I have limited cable, the 9.95 deal, but I tape a lot of shows when I'm not home so that I always have something mildly decent to watch. I use the same tape over and over. If I'm going out, I double check to see if there is a show I can "put in the bank" so that if later on in the week my 6 channels fail me I have a show. I read a lot too and love the radio, but sometimes I wanna veg out, but not to something awful. This is above and beyond taping my favorite shows.

I try to have things be somewhat interchangeable in the kitchen, for example, I use canning jars for canning (!), bulk foods, teas, coffee, raisins, leftovers, I also use them for holding my utensils and knives. Also for holding old batteries (I use rechargeable but I find used ones all the time-it's weird) to be recycled, and bottle caps, and empty seltzer cartridges. And pens, etc. I use the big plastic Peanut Butter jars for bulks foods like cornmeal, bulgur, etc. This means all my lids are interchangeable, and I always have one at hand. I'm not sure if this is a tip or not, but I like the simplicity of having few items (or many of the very same item for many uses).

[lrjohnson]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

Forgot one.

I buy supercheapie baby wipes, at the dollar store or canned foods store or whatever. I split them up into ziploc bags. I have one at home, in the car, at my desk at work. I use them to clean things sometimes. They are much cheaper than the special clorox-type wipes, at a penny a wipe. I can wipe down my desk, catch a sticky spill, wipe my hands in the car. I don't use them very often, say maybe once a week at each place, but when i do, it's so nice to have a semi-moist, nice smelling wipe. The super cheap ones may bother a baby but mine don't get near a baby.

[acezz4e_tish]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

i use lotion to clean/soften my interior. i get a big cheap dollar bottle. if its good for on your skin then it cant be all that bad on leather/vinyl. its cheap, and leaves a gr8 smell. i do sometimes use olive oil as well, expensive, but worth the work.

[akaivyleaf]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

I carry a hotel shower cap with me in my purse, for those flash rain showers while I'm out and about. Easier to carry than a rain bonnet or umbrella and I just need to keep my hair dry until I can run in the building, or from the building to the car.

[Ima saver]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

Never pay for mail order catalogs. Just call the 800 number ans ask for them.

[Ima saver]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

It is more economical to turn the car engine off than to let it idle more than 30 seconds. according to epa tests.

[Fern]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

A few more...


My favorite: (I learned this from a quite wealthy friend) if you receive beautiful free cards, calendars, photo books, or any other art, you can frame it. My friend had an incredible set of four indian art work prints, and when I asked her where she found them, she said didn't know, they came in the mail from a charity asking for money. I've since done the same. I even have a picture in my kitchen that looks like a beautiful watercolor of a rabbit and a gardening can -- it's a piece of wallpaper border from a sample book. People ask about the artist all the time. There are ADORABLE kids prints of wallpaper borders, fairies and dollhouses and sports equipment, that look great with a mat and frame. And a calendar easily makes a "collection". Especially easy when you are renting that house with horrible orange carpet; three sunset over the ocean calendar pictures blend right in.

You can get especially absoolutely beautiful nature photos, landscapes, closeups, etc., from an Audubon calendar. Just don't write on the calendar pp are it might mess up the photo on the other side.

[Fern]

Re: Your Lesser Known Tips

To make clothes more wearbale day two and three, when I get home I change immediately into house clothes/jammies. I know a lot of people who dress up do this, but I can wear jeans and a decent knit shirt to work, and I still do it do it. Even with casual clothes, if I'm in for the night it's jammie time.

i cracked up reading this. i thought i was the only one who did this! i just love my sweatpants paired with an old stretched out turtleneck i would never wear in public, but often wear to bed in winter