Readers' Tips

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Last month's winning tipster: Rita from MN!

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No Cost Birthday Gift for 5-Year-Old Boy

If you have any writing and drawing talent (or know a friend who does), what about creating a book specifically for that child? You have the advantage of knowing exactly what he's interested in and you can really make something special just for or about him. I'm sure you can get ideas on how to bind the book off the Internet.
H

editor's note: For more on No Cost Birthday Gift for 5-Year-Old Boy, please click here or check out the discussion in The Dollar Stretcher Community.

Winter Warmth

My spouse and I wear sweat suits (from Wal-Mart) around the house all winter with wool socks and a knit cap for our heads. We keep slippers or sneakers on our feet. We have a down comforter on the bed. We keep the thermostat at 65 degrees during the day with the window shades open, and set the thermostat at 55 degrees at night. Our heating bill (propane as we live in a RV) is affordable. Please note the addition of the cap on the head makes a big difference in changing the temperature of the body.
Joy M.

editor's note: For much more information about reducing your winter heating bills, please click here.

Expecting? One Outfit = Many

When I was pregnant the first time, my mother-in-law gave me a wool jumper (winter baby). I discovered that I could wear it with regular button blouses by leaving the bottom buttons unbuttoned. No one sees it open under the jumper, and I have a lot of outfits from that one item of clothing. It's great for church and many other "dressy" places that I go.
Judy in WI

editor's note: For more on a maternity wardrobe, please click here.

Shipping Books for Less

Selling books online is a great way to make a few extra dollars, but if you're not careful, the shipping costs can add up to more than what you're getting for the book. To help keep shipping costs down, always ask the post office to ship books at the book rate, which is significantly cheaper than regular shipping.
Amanda S. in Bridgeport, CT

Sharing Meals

Having a weekly or bi-weekly potluck dinner is a great way to help each other out. You could provide the meatloaf stretched with bread or oats and the rest can come from the neighbors. Everyone can have a really great meal at a very cheap price of providing one dish, bread, or dessert. Serve water and or iced tea.
Seantel in The Netherlands

Shower Floors

I have a tip regarding cleaning the shower bottom. Make a paste using some sort of abrasive cleaner like Comet with Dawn® dishwashing soap. The Dawn gets rid of the greasy buildup from our bodies that makes the floor impossible to clean. Let it sit for 15-30 minutes. Skip the scrubbing. Your tub just comes clean.
Paula F.

Make Your Own

My dad is a do-it-yourselfer. Last year, I was looking at a catalog and liked a picture of a coat rack I saw in it. I showed it to my dad, and since the gardening season was over, he had time on his hands and built a version of what I had shown him. Not only that, but he improved on the catalog by putting many hooks inside the frame, so we can hang umbrellas and gloves there. This coat rack is so nice. He has three standing orders from our friends, who are offering top dollar to him to make them one. When I think of the money I saved, and the love that I was shown, I am proud.
Z.

The Monday Exchange

A few of my co-workers and I have a coupon exchange at the office. Every Monday, we bring in our coupons that we received with our Sunday papers. I keep what I will use and bring in the rest for the exchange. At times, I will get a few coupons for the same item that I always use.
Cheryl

Winter Auto Care

During the winter months, along with putting bags on my side mirrors, I also put a tarp over the front and rear window. I never have to scrape my windows, nor do they fog up. I just remove the tarps and bags, and I'm ready to go!
Rebecca J in Forsyth, MO

Dry Clean Only...Not!

I just read where another reader tossed an item before having it dry cleaned due to the cost. Before you do this again, make sure it is a dry clean only material. Some manufactures put that label on clothing because of past complaints from customer who washed something and either did it wrong or used the wrong cleaning products.

When it came time to clean my daughter's wedding dress and put it away, I read the label and found out it was made from polyester. Weighing the cost of a $50 cleaning bill for a dress that may never be worn again against the cost of a lid of detergent, I took the plunge and washed the dress. It came out beautiful. It came out so beautiful, in fact, that several other women have worn it in their weddings.

From that time, I have taken the time to read the labels of anything I buy. I have many items that say dry clean only, but I wash them. Reading your labels, knowing your fabrics (something you can do online), doing it on the gentle cycle, having the right kind of detergent and using your own common sense is the secret to getting the best results.
Faylee J. in Kingsport, TN

Saving Decorating Ideas

When browsing through magazines, I almost always find a picture of a decorating idea, window treatment or craft item that I like. Instead of making copies of the page when there might only be one item I like, I take a picture of it with my cell phone and then send it to my email where I download it into a folder, which can also be organized by room or type. It's easy to locate, and it saves ink and paper. Also, I don't have to keep a physical folder of those. You could also do that with a digital camera, but I always have my cell phone handy.
Sharon in Ohio

Instead of Holiday Tissue Paper

I was telling my wife about The Dollar Stretcher emails that I get (we're both extremely frugal). She thought of this for the holiday season. She suggested shredding (using a paper shredder) the odd shaped pieces of wrapping paper that are left when wrapping a gift or the old wrapping paper after you open a gift as filler for mailing presents. Or put it in bagged presents instead of expensive tissue paper. It's still very festive, but it's free.
Dr. Ed

New Look for Less

We just painted three rooms in our house, and I had taken down all my artwork, etc. After the painting job, I didn't want to hang everything up because some of the frames were the shiny gold ones that didn't look that great. Instead of throwing it all out, I asked my husband to spray paint our ceiling fan, a mirror, a clock and a piece of artwork with a few different colors of spray paint.

We got new items at very little cost. I plan to do that with a few more items as well. It sure saved a lot of money. They also have this cool textured hammered paint that gave the frames a cool finish.
Rachel K. in Breckenridge, MN

Smelly Laundry Solution

For undesirable odors in your laundry, add one half to one cup (depending on the size of the load and the strength of the odor) rubbing alcohol and/or Listerine® to your load. This also gets rid of dried-in odors, sour laundry and urine smells.
Julie

editor's note: For more household uses for rubbing alcohol, please click here.

The Cast-Off Story

When I was growing up, my dad put in new kitchens in new and older homes. Sometimes he would come home talking about how a (non-frugal) woman was replacing her entire kitchen when the old one was just a few years old. When he tore out the old kitchen, often he was able to keep most or all of the items. The owners were happy to get rid of it all! Over the years, I was able to get cabinets for my husband's basement workshop, a very slightly used dishwasher, and laundry room cabinets for free. He is retired now, but I contacted the people who bought his business and was able to get a beautiful solid surface sink for $25. It is like new!

Remember that just because we are frugal, it doesn't mean everyone is! If you need something, don't hesitate to contact someone you know in a similar business and see if you can get a cast off. They all aren't old!
L.

Perfume Stretchers

To stretch my favorite perfume, I use unscented body lotion. After my shower, I put enough lotion in my hand to moisturize my body. Then I spray about three shots of perfume on the lotion, rub my hands together to mix, and apply the lotion to my body. This makes my favorite perfume last at least twice as long as just spraying directly on.
P.S.

Homeowner's Insurance Savings

With the way home prices have plummeted, the cost of replacing a home in the unfortunate event it is ever destroyed has also plummeted. I recently received my homeowner insurance renewal quote in the mail and realized my dwelling coverage was still being calculated at the same amount that it would have cost me to replace my home in 2005! I immediately called and asked them to recalculate that cost and there was a 12.5% decrease in the required coverage. The lady on the phone said that they only readjust those amounts when people call and request a recalculation. Insurance companies are probably raking in the money on all these home policies now seriously over-valued. My 10-minute phone call saved me almost $100 for my renewal this year, so it's worth a look!
Jaime P.

What would you do with an extra $100? One lucky Dollar Stretcher "tipster" will win a $100 check each month just for sending in their favorite time or money saving idea. It could be you. Just send your suggestion to Tips@ stretcher.com. If we use your tip in any of our publications, we'll send you the next three issues of our print newsletter as a "thank you" and you'll automatically be entered into our monthly $100 drawing!

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