Getting Hung Up I love the look of plants in hanging baskets around the patio in the summer, but they can be very expensive, at $25 to $35 for nice ones. My solution is to pot my own! A small investment in potting soil, empty planter pots and a few dollars’ worth of annuals can give you the same effect in a few weeks. Remember to use lightweight potting soil suitable for containers and a good mix of trailing vines and colorful annuals. Potting your own offers the advantage of custom mixing the colors you want, too.
Nancy

Costume Jewelry for Less I’ve found that the best places to buy costume jewelry are the gift shops in hospitals. The ladies that buy for these shops have great taste and they seek out inexpensive and moderately- priced jewelry to sell. I’ve gotten many compliments on the unique pieces that I’ve found at really low prices.
Sandy of Torrance, CA

Ready, Set, Soap! Whether on a camping trip or working around the yard, it’s nice to have a bar of soap handy. To do this, I use an old knee hi or cut off leg of panty hose to slip the soap into. Then I just tie the stocking onto the faucet outside. It’s always handy and stays dry.
Patty S.

No Interest Payment Plans I have noticed that retailers often compensate for the no interest payment plans by higher up front prices. This is not always the case, but it often seems to be the rule not the exception. For example, we were searching for a new TV. After researching what was out there, I had narrowed my choice down to a few models and found one of them for a decent price at Best Buy. The salesman told me that the new ads were coming out the next day, and he thought that model might be on sale, so I waited and came back the next day. Sure enough, the ads came out, and they were offering 18 months no interest financing on all big screen TVs. Sweet! I went back to Best Buy to make my purchase, and the price was $100 higher than it was the day before. After this happened, I started paying more attention, and I noticed especially at big chain stores that the prices tended to fluctuate from week to week, depending on what promotions they were running. And when they were running no-interest promotions on items, those items were almost always selling at higher prices.
Mike H.

Sno-Cones! We make our own sno-cone flavoring with one packet Kool-Aid, 2/3 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of water.
Kathy T.

Clean Combs Put your combs in the sink or a glass container with white vinegar to take away any oils that may have collected on them. Let them sit and then rinse with cool water. I have been doing this for a long time. Also, rinse your fresh washed hair with vinegar for great shine.
Sandi

Personalized Throw Pillows The most inexpensive throw pillow I’ve made was sitting in my closet. With a few stitches to close up the top and bottom, some stuffing put in the middle, and the arms sewn to the back, a new throw pillow was born. Any “sentimental” shirt can be sewn up this way to produce a unique throw pillow, and they work wonders in a kid’s room.
Jayme C.

Love Gardening? Use rubber/latex kitchen gloves for gardening work. But before you put them on, use a generous amount of hand lotion or Vaseline. Not only does the rubber give you excellent grip on tools and to pull weeds, but also as you work, your hands will get warm, causing the lotion to soften your hands and remove previous garden dirt from out of the cracks and under your nails.
Eric S.

Garage Sale Trick Just as my daughter was closing up at the end of a garage sale, a “family” (mom, dad, baby, grandma and grandpa) stopped by and bought a couple of small items. Then the dad decided he wanted another item. It was $6, but he only had a $100 bill. My trusting daughter gladly gave him $94 in exchange for his $100 bill. It turned out to be a fake!
Maureen

Whew! That Grease! When my children worked in fast food restaurants, their uniforms smelled like greasy fried food, even after washing. There was no way to get that smell out of the clothing. I put baking soda in the bleach dispenser cup in my washer and it got the smell out! Every time I washed their uniforms, I did this. It’s inexpensive and it works.
Joanne

Christmas In July? When our family heads out on a vacation or special weekend trip, we make a point of checking out local Christmas tree ornament selections at our point of destination. Our tree is now filled with reminders of trips and locations that bring back fond memories as they are unwrapped year after year. And while I would think paying $5 to $10 was too much for a mere ornament, paying that for a useful souvenir makes it a deal, and makes for a great looking tree!
Margo L.

Ridding Your Home of Roaches Many years ago, my mother told me that she used boric acid to kill the roaches in her Texas apartment, and at the same time, she killed the neighbor’s roaches. The trick to getting where the roaches live is to remove all of the electric and light switch plates and dump it down into the walls. You might want to turn off the electricity at the breaker while you do this to be safe. That’s the place where they live and how they travel from apartment to apartment. She said that she used a good amount in every wall, and in no time, there wasn’t a roach to be found in the whole building.
Keri of Eagleville, TN

Cleaning Fireplace Bricks When we purchased our home, the fireplace had never been cleaned. The home was over 30 years old. We made a paste with baking soda and water, applied the paste, and scrubbed with a nail brush purchased at the dollar store. We had tried a product called TSP available at the local hardware store, which loosened the remaining spots that didn’t come clean. It sure worked for us!
M. M.

Gary Foreman
The Dollar Stretcher
gary@stretcher.com