You can make your own laundry soap for a few cents per load. I mix two cups of Borax, two cups of Super Washing Soda, and grate a bar of Ivory Soap into it. I use less than a third of a cup per load and this mix removes stains better than twice as much regular detergent! With this recipe, I can make for $5 what I usually buy for $12.
A.N.S.

This is for your readers who receive catalogs or mail order magazines in the mail. Before discarding, most of us tear off our name and address from the back of such junk mail. However, be warned that some automatically put your name, address and ID number on the inside too! To protect your personal information, check the inside and tear out and shred this information.
T.H. of Parrish, FL

Since we have very hard water, I regularly clean the holes in the arms with a skewer. It is amazing how much gunk blocks these openings after a while. I also run six or seven packages of unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid through when the dishwasher is empty and let the citric acid clean the interior.
Toni in NE

Instead of buying something like the Diaper Genie, I just use the box from the powder detergent we buy already. Then, I line it with the plastic bags that everyone saves from the supermarket. The smell of the detergent is still in the box and helps keep the odor of dirty diapers down.
Amanda

Before you leave for vacation, put a single ice cube in a
sealed baggie. When you return, if you discover the ice cube melted, you will know immediately that you have to dispose of ruined food.
Sherry C. of Shelburne, MA

Yellow Pages (and most paper phone books) deliver a large and a small copy of their phone books. I put the small one under the seat of my car and use that instead of my cell phone 411 service. My cell phone company charges more than a dollar for information calls. (Of course, remember to pull over and park before looking up a number!)

It’s usually commercial numbers that I need. I usually want to call a certain business to see if they have something rather than spend the time and gas driving across town. I may save less than $10 a year on the calls, but I’d rather keep the money in my pocket than let the cell phone company have it!
Denise D. of Merritt Island, FL

While watching my baby crawling around, I noticed that his sleeper was picking up every hair, piece of lint and fuzzy in sight! It was the older, polyester type of sleeper. They work great for picking up dog/cat hair on hard wood floors!
Dana

We have central heat and air that is not “zoned” by rooms in the house. In order to lower energy bills, I close the vents and shut the doors to the upstairs bedrooms and bath, which don’t get much use during the day while the kids are in school (or outside in the summer). The magnetic vent covers I see in some catalogs are handy, but I have found that sign making shops who make magnetic signs will give away scraps of magnetic vinyl sheets for free or very cheap. I cut them to the vent size, stick them on the closed vent and then seal them tight, resulting in lower energy bills year round.
Deb in Pennsylvania

I have a flat top stove (one without the raised burners) and it came with a sample of cleaner. I tried using the cleaner to get the grime and “baked on” mess off of the stovetop and had a really hard time. Then, I tried using baking soda and a little water and it worked great! It’s a lot less expensive, too!
Linda of Clover, SC
 

I have five children, ages 12, 9, 6, 4, and 22 months. We do a number of sports and home school activities and my only saving grace to avoid fast food joints was a good, old-fashioned picnic basket. I keep it in the van loaded at all times. We pack (buy small jars and they will be used up before they spoil), bagels, seeds and nuts, dried fruit, pretzels, trail mix, granola bars, yogurt covered raisins, crackers, salsa and corn chips, silverware, napkins, etc.

On my way out the door, I have a tiny cooler ready with two or three of the following: cream cheese, cheese sticks, any fruit, ranch dip and vegetable sticks, luncheon meats or anything perishable. When I grocery shop, I just have those non-perishables bagged separately and put them right in the basket. It frees up my mind to know they have healthy choices at the tips of their fingers.
Mom of 5

My husband and I have bought a lot of vehicles in our years together. Only two of them were new (and they were demos purchased at the end of the model year). We have bought everything from trucks to Porsches and haven’t had any unpleasant surprises because we always do one thing. We have the vehicle inspected by a dealership or reputable repair shop that specializes in that vehicle.

The cost of the inspection has been less than $200 and has given us bargaining points to either have the owner repair the problems or discount the price by that much. A motivated owner who is also honest will usually offer to split the cost of the inspection since they have nothing to hide.

This has worked for us and allowed us to drive very nice, low mileage vehicles at a fraction of the cost of new-off-the- dealer’s-lot ones.
Nancy in Santee

If you are brand loyal to one detergent experiment a bit with it and find out how little you can use to effectively clean one load of clothes. Most people automatically use one full cap or cup of the detergent just out of habit. Start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup (or cap full) and see how that works. If it does not clean to your satisfaction, then increase a bit with each load until you find the right amount that works for your machine. If you can just use 1/2 cup, it is like doubling the size of the box of your detergent!
Donna in Mena, Arkansas

My family loves tacos and burritos, but they’re not the healthiest foods. So I buy a can of refried beans (no fat) and mix it in with chicken or beef. It not only stretches the amount of filling, but also it’s healthier than all meat.
J.

I keep cheap wine under the sink to get rid of roaches, and it works like magic! I never found any with their tiny feet in the air, but I haven’t see anymore roaches since I started keeping the wine dish filled. In fact, I worked on redoing my kitchen for a couple of months and had removed the dish during that time, and I started seeing the little critters again. All it took to rid them a second time was putting the wine out again. And now they are all gone! I will never be without cheap wine under my cupboards again.
Valerie

Gary Foreman
The Dollar Stretcher
gary@stretcher.com