Readers' Tips
Prepaid Funerals
I think prepaid funerals or burial contracts are a great
thing. Funeral costs do go up over time, like anything else.
My mother was able to pick everything she wanted to have,
using a life insurance policy to cover the prepaid funeral. We
found ourselves in the unfortunate position of not being able
to take care of her anymore, and she is now in a nursing home.
Medicaid doesn't allow more than $4,000 in assets. This
includes life insurance, but a burial contract is allowed
besides that $4000. I believe you would be doing your mother
and yourself a big favor by doing an arrangement.
Dee in RI
editor's note: For more on Prepaid Funerals, please click here or check out the discussion in The Dollar Stretcher Community.
Trick or Treat!
I took one of the round, plastic jack-o-lantern candy buckets,
put it on top of one of my fence posts, and put a tealight
inside. It lit up the orange bucket so it was glowing and
bright orange. It was easy for kids to see and know it was a
house they should come to for trick or treating! The bucket is
reusable every year. And it only cost $3!
MKJ in Mountlake Terrace, WA
editor's note: For more frugal Halloween ideas, please click here.
Changed My Address
A month ago I was struggling to survive. I rented a cheap two- bedroom apartment, kept my air on 80 degrees, didn't buy food, had no debt and basically did all I could to pinch pennies that I didn't have. I had job applications in all over town and no prospects but a part-time job that didn't begin to cover my monthly expenses. I was at the point where I wondered if I was going to be on the street.
Then I found out about how cheap it is to live in a RV park. Water, Internet and cable TV are free. Rent is minimal. It is several hundred dollars lower than what I paid for my cheap apartment. Electricity is often included, but at my park, I pay for that, but it's a fraction of what I paid for the apartment. And I basically own my own home.
I took the part-time job. I now can relax, work four hours a day, and all my bills are covered. I have four bills, including rent, electricity, cell phone and the camper I bought to live in. I love the simple, clutter free and relaxed lifestyle. All of my neighbors are good people, and a large portion of them paid cash for the boats, trucks and jet skis parked outside their campers.
In one month, I completely changed my life by changing my
address.
Angela C.
Hot Chocolate at Home
My kids love the creamy hot chocolate at McDonald's. However, the price tag (over $10) is pretty steep with four kids. We've tried many of the box hot cocoa mixes and even tried making our own from milk, cocoa powder and vanilla, but they were never quite the same taste.
Recently, we discovered using store bought chocolate milk and warming it slowly in a sauce pan. There's nothing extra to mix, and it's really creamy. We add a spoonful of whipped topping and even drizzle on a little chocolate syrup. It's delicious. Our local convenience store sells three half gallons for $3, so it's really a good deal! We stumbled across this idea when we needed to use up some chocolate milk a day or two past the expiration date.
Now I don't think we'll use anything else for hot chocolate!
Jody A.
editor's note: For another hot chocolate mix idea, please click here.
Can't Afford Repair
During my very busy day today, I discovered that the icemaker in my one-year-old refrigerator/freezer was jammed. I immediately felt upset. Here I am a single mom trying to save money and now this! It had been expensive and I only purchased it a year ago! I tried to hack away the ice I could see in the gears of the icemaker. I felt myself getting more aggravated by the minute. After a few more attempts to unsuccessfully unclog the jam, I gave up and called the number on the warranty card.
I was already frustrated before placing the call, and the long wait made it worse. When the representative came on, he told me that the earliest date he could schedule the repair was two weeks away! No ice for two weeks! And then he told me that my warranty had expired two months earlier! The service call would cost me either $70 or I could subscribe to a one-year extended warranty for $279. Now I was silently enraged. I didn't need this extra expense now and I certainly didn't need one more extra problem to deal with!
However, I am very proud to say that I got a grip on myself. I realized that if the earliest he could send someone to repair my icemaker was two weeks away, I had two weeks to try to find an alternate solution! In that time, I could do some Internet research, call a friend and/or try to repair it myself. So rather than make a decision when I was feeling stressed out and pressured, I calmly told the representative that I would consider my options and call back.
And then with a new frame of mind, I calmly walked back into the kitchen and fixed the icemaker myself! I was able to dislodge more of the ice when I took my time. Eventually, I was able to remove the bin and run warm water through it to clear out all of the remaining ice! I was so proud of myself! I saved a lot of money and learned how to maintain my icemaker.
My tip is that when you find yourself facing an unexpected
expense (which can be very upsetting to people trying to save
money), you should take a step back, calm down, and think
through all of your options. You won't do your best thinking
when you are upset, and there are very few problems that
require instantaneous action!
JR
Deep Clean Your Hair
A bit of baking soda added to shampoo helps take hair spray
out of the hair. Yep, just plain baking soda. This saves on
shampoo and doesn't require so much scrubbing. It's easier on
your hair and your pocketbook.
Judi B. in Ozark, MO
Homemade Bread
I just want to mention that you should always buy your bread machine used. Many people buy them, and for one reason or another, they get rid of them. I bought one machine for $1 that lasted me for two years of heavy use. My current one was $5 and has gone for over a year. My mother and sisters have had similar experiences.
When buying used, make sure the paddle is inside. A worker at the thrift store where I bought my second machine said that people steal them because if lost, they are expensive to replace.
The added benefits of using a bread machine instead of a stand mixer for bread making include:
- I don't have to be on a timer to punch and shape my loaf. I
have a busy schedule and one less thing to think about is
awesome.
- It doesn't heat up my house (as much as a whole oven) in
summer.
- I can set a delay on most of them so I can mix my
ingredients in the morning, set a delay for four hours and the
bread will be ready to serve with dinner.
- Jam! I make fresh jam and marmalade in mine. It's so fun!
Also, I have found the best price on yeast to be one-pound
bags of Fleischmann's yeast at Sam's Club. Never buy the
packets, as they're too expensive.
Emily
DIY Cookbook
Instead of buying expensive cookbooks and only using a few
recipes from them, I find recipes for what I want to cook on
the Internet and print them out for free. I have put together
my own cookbook in a binder and keep the recipes in plastic
sleeves for easy cleanup.
Stephanie
Prettier Packages
To me, this is the epitome of cheap, but I never buy new
tissue paper to use with gift wrapping for birthdays or
holidays. I always reuse what I get in my own family's gifts.
That printed tissue can be expensive, so why buy it? I just
iron it! I smooth the wrinkles from each sheet and stack them
in a pile (any with holes or tears are used for packing items
that need to be mailed). After I'm done ironing any clothes, I
just run the iron over my stack of tissue paper. I do about
ten or so sheets and turn the whole stack over and do the
other side. They may not look totally fresh out of the
package, but I get one more use out of them, which helps my
wallet and our environment. I use a medium setting, and this
has never harmed my iron, or transferred any color from the
tissue to my clothes.
A.M. in Springfield, MO
Handy, Inexpensive Landscape Borders
Shingles make an easy and nice looking border. Just overlap
them so water will run off. I have some that I put under
bricks that I used to build rings around trees and the
shingles have been lying on the ground for 8+ years and still
look fine. You can buy "broken bundles" at about a 50%
discount and pick a color close to the color of the dirt so
they are very unnoticeable. And you can drive the lawnmower
right up onto them, so they have eliminated the need to trim
weeds.
Debbie Z.
Winter Auto Ice Control
I keep a spray bottle with a mixture of winter windshield
washer solvent (the blue stuff) and white vinegar mixed 50/50
in my car. When I park it for the night, I give a quick spray
to the outside of the windows and the mirrors. In the morning,
there is no frost on them and ice does not usually stick if we
get freezing rain during the night. If you get some on your
paint, it does not hurt it.
Paul D. in Amsterdam, NY
Grind Your Own Flour
We have a small coffee bean grinder that we purchased from
Wal-Mart (15 bucks), and it grinds oats quite nicely. Quick
oats are cheap, and we grind them into flour that we use to
make cookies. We can't tell the difference!
Tracy J.
Troublesome Auto Windows
Before replacing car window motors, use spray silicone
lubricant and apply a generous amount to the window tracks. I
have a 1990 Olds that could barely roll up the power windows.
I thought it needed new window motors. After spraying the
silicone in the window tracks, they've worked like new for
almost two years now.
Rob
Better Wash Cloths
With the price of thick wash cloths being a bit too high for
my budget, I began looking for a solution. I found an 18-piece
pack of cloths for under $5. I took two of them and sewed them
together with a zigzag stitch in a color that matched my bath.
This gave me nine thick cloths for less than $5. They may not
last as long as the expensive ones, but considering the cost,
I can always do it again.
Deanna G.
Non-Slip Coat Hangers
I almost spent a good amount of money to purchase non-slip
hangers, but then I came across a rubber band ball that my
husband made from all the rubber bands we've accumulated. I
got the idea to wind a rubber band around either end of some
of my hangers. Now, I've got non-slip hangers for the bargain
price of free! They really work!
Gel
A Gift from Mom
A simple idea that I used for a gift happens to be my
daughter's favorite gift of all time. It was a recipe book
with hand-written recipes in it from her childhood. I also
wrote a little story after each recipe, reminding her of a
time when we enjoyed that particular food in the recipe. It
brought tears to her eyes.
Eileen in PA
editor's note: For more homemade gift ideas, please click here.
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