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One inexpensive gift, which my kids love, is homemade pillow cases. You can choose material that you know they'll like. Or I let my kids come along and choose material they like. It doesn't take that much material and you don't need to purchase a pattern. You just sew up the sides and machine hem the bottom. It's a gift that lasts for $1 to $3. My kids can't imagine sleeping on anything else.
TS
more ideas for Children's Gifts
For the best TV reception, go to Radio Shack and buy two things. One should be an antenna that you place in your attic. The other should be a signal booster you hook up to it. I live north of Dallas, and with this I am able to receive signals from 150 miles away.
EK
more suggestions on getting good TV signals without cable
Instead of celebrating Christmas with gifts, we celebrate the 12th Night. It is the 12th day after Christmas. In the first millennium, this was the day to give gifts. It is the origin of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."
This allows us to take advantage of the after Christmas sales in early January to buy presents.
Sue H.
In the winter, it's hard to get into a cold bed. I received a neck warmer for Christmas. It's is a pouch full of rice that can be warmed in the microwave and draped around your neck for neck pain. It can be made with a simple sock filled with rice. I microwave it for two to three minutes, depending on the microwave, and stick it at the bottom of the bed before I brush my teeth. When I get into bed, it's warm and toasty for my cold feet!
Rebecca
Last night I held an impromptu party. When I looked in my fridge for things to serve, I realized that a trip to the store was going to be necessary. My budget was tight so I knew that I could only afford something under four or five bucks for my party of 15.
While looking around the store, I noticed a fruit platter for sale for $14.99. After looking at the package more closely, I realized that it was set to expire the next day. I found the manager and asked for a deal. He asked me how much I was willing to pay. I said $2 and he gave it to me for that.
The manager informed me that if I ever see food near expiration to always ask for a deal and there will usually be one available. The store could have lost a lot more money on the item had it spoiled. But they broke even since I bought the platter.
Rob C.
If you are printing something just for yourself (like a copy of the Dollar Stretcher), you can save money by doing three quick things.
1.) Save ink by printing in "draft" quality. The result will be lighter but still legible text. (Click the options and/or properties box and change from "high quality" to "draft.")
2.) Save ink by making text smaller before printing (keep it legible of course).
3.) Save ink by removing any bolded or colored text before printing (every bit helps).
4.) Save paper by printing on the clean side of once-used sheets (I bet most readers already do this!)
JR
Here's a tip that I learned from a Kiwi friend (a New Zealander). With the hole in the ozone layer biggest over Australia/New Zealand, their skin tends to age much faster than up north. The ladies make small muslin pouches, add a couple pinches of oatmeal, dampen with a little water, and scrub the face and neck lightly. Oatmeal makes up a wonderful cleansing lather, leaves the skin squeaky clean and leaves behind powerful antioxidants, besides being cheap. Use fresh oatmeal for every wash. Girls who have started this at a young age end up with very few wrinkles and laugh lines into their adulthood. For older women, it really slows down the aging process. (Unfortunately, nothing has been found to cure it yet...darn.)
Suzy in Nebraska
In the winter, my feet are always cold before I go to bed. I've started taking my nightly shower with the tub stopper closed. By the time I'm finished, my feet have been covered by about 1-2 inches of warm water and my feet are happy!
Lori T
editor's note: any other suggestions for winter comfort? Please send them to tips@stretcher.com
Here is a really inexpensive gift that comes out quite beautiful. All you need is a clear glass jar (these can be found for $1 at dollar stores, or you can check out yard sales and flea markets--old mason jars work well also), a $3 bag of potpourri, and a $2 string of 35 white Christmas lights. Layer the potpourri and the lights in the jar, leaving the plug end of the lights hanging outside the jar. Place a lace doily over the top and tie in place with a scrap of ribbon. You get a beautiful gift at a VERY cheap price. When they are plugged in, the heat from the lights warms the potpourri and the smell is wonderful (especially if you use cinnamon or Christmas potpourri).
TL
Around the holidays, I usually buy big containers of cinnamon sticks at the 99 cents store. I simmer them on the stovetop and it makes my home smell awesome! It costs much less than expensive candles, and they work better than candles do! You can also use tea bags for this as well. I use apple cinnamon or peppermint herb tea, which has a strong smell, but it's very nice to come home to!
CM
I live in the country. When we had the recent snowstorm, I still had to take my dog for a walk. I knew I would slip and slide. At 81 years of age, I did not need to risk a fall. I dug out my old golf shoes and "Poochie" and I went walking! Not a slip nor slide to be had.
Esther H
This year, I have really tried to simplify and make the Christmas season more meaningful for our family. About a month ago, I got up the courage to ask two families, with whom my husband and children are very close friends, if they would like to forego exchanging gifts. We have always bought gifts for the adults and each child in the past. This year, I proposed a Sunday Brunch at our house (simpler and less expensive than a dinner). The children were allowed to select an animal gift for a needy family through Heifer International. It worked beautifully. One family selected a flock of chicks for $20, one family selected a share of a water buffalo for $25, and one family chose a hive of bees for $30. We feasted on homemade waffles and hot cider, the children learned an important lesson, and I think everyone was relieved to be rid of the obligation of buying six to seven expensive, unnecessary gifts.
Patty in Illinois
I love the muesli cereal with the name ending in X, but it is even more outrageously expensive than most cereals. At my local supermarket, I pay about $1 (Canadian) for each 100 grams of it. Well, its main ingredient is oats, which even at regular retail costs only 17 cents for 100 grams! I found a recipe that makes excellent muesli. While I haven't done the number crunching, the only ingredient that even approaches the price of the muesli-in-a-pretty-box is the almonds, so it has to be coming out a LOT cheaper. It's fast to make, and you know it doesn't have any preservatives in it because you make it yourself.
MUESLI
4 cups oats
2/3 cup slivered almonds
1 and 1/2 cups generic bran flakes
2/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup roasted salted shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350. Put the oats on a baking sheet, spread them out evenly and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Pour them into a bowl. Put the almonds on the sheet and toast them for 4 minutes, until they are just starting to brown. Add them to the oats. If you're feeling fancy, toast the sunflower seeds as well, for about 2 minutes. Or you can just throw them in the bowl with all the other ingredients, stir well, and stir a few more times while it cools. When cool, store in an airtight container.
Variations: Any other dried fruit can be used in addition to or instead of the raisins. Chopped, pitted dates are delicious, as are dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, etc.
Other nuts can also be used, but be sure to toast them to bring out the best flavor and crunch. Pecans are amazingly delicious.
Try other spices as well. A little bit of nutmeg is great.
If you want this to be even closer to the expensive stuff, add a cup or two of generic puffed rice.
Tips: Buy as many of your ingredients as you can in bulk. Avoid the little 'snack' packages of sunflower seeds like the plague. They are too expensive. If all you can find is the unsalted roasted shelled sunflower seeds, add a shake or too of salt onto the oats while still hot, otherwise the cereal will be bland.
I've found that the California raisins in the red package, while more expensive, are much tastier and have better texture. They probably don't end up much more expensive in the cereal, because when I use cheap raisins I end up adding more to get the flavor.
Enjoy your breakfast!
Karen W
I'm a professional florist, and there is some truth to what was written about calling a florist directly with an out-of- town order.
Florists generally use a "wire service" (Teleflora, FTD, etc.) to get out-of-town orders, but the service takes a decent sized chunk out of the amount we charge for an arrangement (27%, to be exact). So although it often costs us more to fill a wire service order than a direct order, we do it largely as a service to our customers.
"Direct ship" companies that will take your order through an 800 number clearinghouse (like 800flowers or Hallmark) have a large amount of capital behind their advertising, but what they send is, as the writer mentioned, "standard" (i.e., no changes for personal preference). Additionally, it comes in a box, dry, and needs to be arranged when the recipient gets it. I received one of these bouquets when I had our son this year, and my husband had to take the flowers home, prepare them, and then arrange them in a vase (and he's not the florist)! When flowers have been in a box (in a FedEx truck, etc.), the vase- life you'll get out of them is diminished greatly.
The advantages of calling a florist directly are great. First, you'll get to talk directly to the shop doing your order. You'll know what they have in stock and what's in season, and you can request the flowers that you'd like within those parameters. Second, you have the advantage of getting your full money's worth, as there is no middleman to take a chunk out of the florist's cost. Wire services ultimately do a disservice, as the 27% lost must be made up somewhere. Finally, you'll have the advantage of knowing what time your arrangement will be delivered. Most florists will make one or two runs per day to local hospitals and can give you an approximate time of delivery. If there are questions, drivers will log the time of delivery and the employees of the shop can let you know the details.
Most florists do charge for deliveries to hospitals (most of us waive delivery charges to funeral homes, though), but you'll find lower costs all the way around if you deal directly with a shop as opposed to using a national clearinghouse or wire-service. As a florist, I love the idea of getting new customers directly. I do this to meet needs and make people smile, and this is just another way of getting to fulfill my calling.
Sue
Owner of The Olive Branch
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