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Readers' Tips

Theme Park Vacation

We have gone on vacation several times, including two times to Disney by renting a timeshare from the site www.skyauction.com. They have auctions for timeshares that are not used. They would rather have it filled for a very low price than have it empty. You have to look through the auctions to find the ones that are for the timeshares. With the ones that we won, we were first able to look through the inventory of timeshares that were available (which changes even throughout the day) and reserve the one that we wanted. You then bid on the certificate for the week. I have always won it for under $50. You then pay $295 for the week. It is a full seven nights, and they are very nice. We always cook all of our meals since we have a full kitchen.
Tony

editor's note: more suggestions on doing a theme park vacation for less

Snack Packs To Go

Instead of buying individually wrapped, snack sized, sliced apples for around $3.50 for 10 servings, buy a bag of apples and slice right before heading off to school (or work). Put them in a small plastic dish or baggie with a little squirt of lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.

I do the same thing with any of those single serving snacks. Yes, they save you time, but how much are they charging you for that time? If I do all my shopping on the weekend, I can have all the snacks made up for the week in some cases (chips, crackers, cookies, grapes, etc.)
Kathleen B.

Make-Up Advice

Good makeup tools give your makeup a professional lease on life. High quality brushes will last you a lifetime, whereas a sponge must be replaced every six weeks and the eye shadow applicators get very dirty very quickly. If you live close to Target, buy a Sonia Kashuk brush set. The powder and blush brush will upgrade your drugstore makeup and they all last forever if you clean them every week. If you use foundation, buy a separate foundation brush. It fills in the pores for a flawless finish and applies wonderfully around tricky areas like lips and nose. It's so inexpensive to buy a set for your handbag so you can touch up. It should set you back no more than $30, which is the cost of one high end brush of same quality.

Dilute your foundation with moisturizer for easy application and flawless results.

If you have a very dark lipstick, melt and mix with Vaseline. It dilutes it and gives a glossy finish. This is a practice among makeup artists.
Vijay

From a Fortune Cookie

This came in a fortune cookie many years ago and has often kept me from unneeded purchases and unnecessary debt: "Happiness isn't having what you want. It's wanting what you have."

Every time I want something, I think about what I already have that is enough for the purpose and that I don't want to give up. Occasionally, I find that I really want something and then I get it, but I can't tell you how many times that fortune cookie reminded me that I already have all I need.
Anne P.

Monthly Earnings

To encourage my 5-year-old daughter to save money and learn to count coins and bills, we take her to the bank each month on the third (the anniversary of her birthday). We make the trip a special event, and she looks forward to seeing how much she "earned" each month. I think it also helped her learn her date of birth, something that most children don't learn before entering school.
Teresa

Kids Workshops

On the first Saturday morning of the month, Home Depot gives free Kids Workshops, where the children can go and create something. Usually it's made of wood, which is all supplied, along with directions. Check out here. On the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, Lowes has their workshops for the children, Build and Grow Clinics. Check out here.

Even if there are sign-ups for these workshops, usually you can just walk right in. My children have been doing these since they were quite small, and now the older ones enjoy helping the younger ones, so the family tradition continues. And the children can give the items they make as presents, which mean much more than a bought present.
Jari in College Station, Texas

Class Rings

I used to work at a jewelry store that sold both new and used jewelry and also purchased old jewelry and scrap gold. You would not believe the incredible amount of class rings that were brought in to be sold, and their value was next to nothing. Usually, the only value left in them was whatever metal could be salvaged. We literally had buckets and buckets of old class rings in the back of the store that people just didn't want any more.

My point is that although it is a neat symbolism, it is a trend that comes your senior year and leaves shortly after your life moves on from your high school years. If at all possible, try to get your child to see that this investment (and it is an investment!) will never grow more valuable and will most likely end up in the bottom of a drawer within a couple years. Suggest, maybe, that the money be put toward something that he/she can use for many years, or even teach them how investing the same amount of money could create a nice little sum for something bigger in the future.

My parents purchased a nice used ring from the jewelry store that I worked at. The ring I received was far more valuable than a class ring. They paid less for it, and now, at 26, out of college, married with two kids, I still proudly wear the ring because it is a nice piece of jewelry.
Abigail

No Soap!

After washing and drying bath towels, I find them to be less fluffy and realized it was the liquid fabric softener and the dryer sheets. I took the bath towels and washed a full load in warm water with NO soap/detergent, and in the rinse cycle, I added 1 cup of white vinegar. There is enough soap left in most loads of laundry that we don't need to add in every load, plus the vinegar cuts through the residue left in the fibers and allows the towels to be fluffy again.
Lisa

Discount Student Instruments

When my son was taking clarinet at school, I determined that I didn't want to rent one and I didn't know enough about the instrument to make a wise choice of buying one. So, I called the company that provides the rentals for the schools. They were happy to sell me a refurbished clarinet for far less than the cost of a 9 month rental. The staff there knew what the school's requirements were, the kind of instruments the teachers wanted the kids to use, and were very forthcoming. I saved a lot of money by purchasing that used instrument on my own rather than going thru the school's rental program.
JD in St. Louis

Natural Garden Critter Control

To control rabbits as pests -- and possibly other critters too -- from eating your lawn, garden, etc.: Sprinkle whole coffee beans in the area. Animals are absolutely repelled by the smell of the coffee. One bag of coffee beans is enough to keep rabbits at bay for a few months.
Amy

Lunch to Go

In my family of five, it is not uncommon for me to cook a dinner and have anywhere from one to four servings of food left over (in other words - not enough for another dinner). When that happens I put single serving sizes of the main dish plus any leftover sides into sandwich size plastic containers, then I stack these containers nicely in my freezer. When it's time to pack my husband's or my lunch for work, I just reach into the freezer, grab a container, then add a few snacks and the lunch is ready to go. It's easier than making a sandwich, and we enjoy having some warm, home cooked food for lunch away from home. Plus, it's always something different, and I don't have leftovers rotting unnoticed in my refrigerator!
Julie G.
Stephens City, Virginia

Newspaper Sleeves

Our newspaper is delivered in a plastic sleeve or tube. We've found a great use for the sleeve. We have been painting the house, and when we need to take a break during the day, we insert the roller into the plastic sleeve. It just fits, and keeps the roller fresh. When break time is over, we remove the sleeve and throw it away.
Diana P.
Troy, MO

Children's Party

For your child's next party, consider having a "book exchange" instead of gifts. Here's how it works. Each child who attends the party brings one wrapped book (age appropriate of course). At the start of the party, all of the books are put into a bin. Then, when the party's over, each child gets to choose a book to take home as his or her party favor. We tried this for our daughter's fourth birthday party recently and it worked great. The parents all loved the idea because they didn't have to worry about what to buy for a gift. And it freed us up from having to buy or make goody bags, which usually just consist of candy and/or cheap plastic toys anyway. At our party, everyone remembered to bring a book. However, I'd recommend placing two or three wrapped books in the bin yourself in case anyone forgets to bring one.
Susan

Black Mold Solution

I had a lot of black mold in the shower and tried several suggestions but nothing worked as well as my husband's suggestion. We used swimming pool chlorine (inexpensive). Just get an old towel or cloth wet with the chlorine. Lay it out flat (large towel does half of my shower) and let it sit. Go back after a couple of hours and it will be as clean as a whistle. Then just move the towel to another area of the shower, add a little more chlorine and repeat. It does have strong fumes, but I opened the window and ran the fan. Just don't hang around and breathe in the fumes. The chlorine wasn't hard on my hands, however. The towel will disintegrate by the time you are done so just throw it away. I did not have many mold problems on the walls. It was only on the floor. I think the key is to wait ample time. It took all day, but it was worth it.
Florida Housewife

The "Eating Out Bank"

I recently started my own "Stop Eating Out" plan. I used to stop at Starbucks and get coffee and a sandwich every workday. Then at lunchtime, I drove to various fast food places for lunch. No more.

I make my own coffee at the office, using my own add-ins, and bring breakfast from home. I've made homemade egg/sausage/cheese hot pockets, various flavors of egg quesadillas, and different kinds of egg/meat sandwiches. Every time I do this, I put $3 into my giant blue piggy bank. Yes, I know it's not drawing much interest, but it'll do for this.

I started bringing lunch, embracing the concept of small meals with the right amounts of protein, starches, veggies, and sweets for my sweet tooth. When I do this, $5 goes into the piggy bank.

So I'm sort of "paying myself" to not eat out! And I think I'm eating healthier, too.
Cyndi

Leftover Pasta

I have a hard time judging how much pasta to cook for my family. Recently, I started freezing the leftover pasta. It works great to throw into soup or even to take for lunch when my kids only leave leftover sauce on another pasta night!
Vi H.

An Old Fashioned Shave

My husband has always struggled with red bumps on his face after shaving. Before we adopted the frugal lifestyle, I spent wads of money on expensive products that never seemed to help. One day I found the solution on the top shelf of the supermarket. It was an old-fashioned shaving kit with soap and a brush! I spent about $10 for a matching brush, mug and soap, but you could also buy the brush and soap separately and use any old mug. The soap by itself costs all of $1! The soap lasted twice as long as the shaving gel I used to buy for him, and he has no bumps or irritation anymore! Plus, he loves the routine of using the brush every morning. He says that it reminds him of his grandfather. I guess gramps really did know best! It works so well that I now use the same system for shaving my legs and underarms, and I cut myself a lot less often. A nice shaving set would make a wonderful, useful gift for the man you love!
Jacki W. in Leesburg, Florida

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