If you live in a townhouse and find your electric bill is high even after you’ve cut back on usage, call your electric company and make sure they’re charging you for the right electricity meter and the correct meter reading. Don’t pay for your neighbor’s power!
Elizabeth J.

I went to the movie theater with a friend and her family. She has three children. She bought the extra large butter popcorn and asked for four boxes. I felt kind of stupid when she did, but the service personnel explained to me that it is perfectly normal and a lot of people do that. She also qualified for a refill once it was empty. I have gone to a few theaters since then with my own children and now do the same. Now I don’t have to listen to my children complain about not having their own and going to the show doesn’t cost me so much. I wish someone would have told me this a long time ago. I would have saved a lot of money!
Shelley O.
 

If you have your rain gauge out in your yard placed so you can see it from your window, it is sometimes hard to read. When I empty mine, I add a couple of drops of food coloring. Then as it fills up, I have colored water that is much easier to read from a distance.
Kathee G. in Lincoln, NE

I had several cracked ceramic tiles (16″ tiles) on my floors. The suggested repair was to remove and replace them, which was a skill that was way over my abilities. Worse than that, we could not match the tile.
 
I purchased grout that matched my tile from Home Depot. Using a pair of rubber gloves, I rubbed the grout into the cracks both in the tile and grout lines. I wiped the newly grouted area with a damp cloth and now you can no longer see the cracks. It was a cheap repair that required very little skill.
Jay

I have never been good at sticking with an exercise schedule. It was always the first thing that got crossed off my list if life got too busy or I was tired or something came up. I would pay for gym fees but I never used it or bought equipment that just sat around the house collecting dust.

I also had a hard time convincing my children (11 and 13) to move. They didn’t want to go outside and play unless there was other children around or they had something to do. They are not into sports.

The solution? I got a paper route. We all participate in the route, which takes about six to seven hours a week total. It keeps us active and there is no “I don’t feel like it” because it’s a job that has to be done.

The added bonus is we get paid to exercise! There are no gym fees and no equipment to buy except some good walking shoes and we get a little extra spending money. Now that’s a bargain!
Kathy
 

The expensive foaming soap containers can be refilled, even though some have a disclaimer on the back saying you shouldn’t refill them.

To make your own refill, mix regular liquid soap with water in a 1 to 10 ratio (1 part liquid soap to 10 parts water). Swirl well to mix and refill the container.

The liquid soap will last longer (less is used per use) and I find my children more likely to wash their hands with the foaming soap as an option. It’s a win-win situation!
Jennifer R.

I enjoy drinking flavored coffees, such as Godiva’s Creme Brulee, which is quite expensive. To save money, I use half regular coffee and half flavored coffee. I cannot tell the difference, and the flavored coffee goes twice as far for half the price.
Dorothy R.

I used a baby food grinder given as a gift when our fifth child was born. It quickly turned almost anything we were eating into baby food on the spot. I also baked sweet potatoes with the skin on them in the oven, scooped out the inside, mashed it up with a fork, and dropped it by the spoonful on wax paper to freeze quickly. Then, I put the frozen dollops in a freezer bag for quick defrosting to feed baby. Time spent is next to nothing to prepare his food while fixing meals for my family.
D.

I work in our garden, and of course, the bugs love to get fresh food. If bitten, apply some ammonia to the area. In a few seconds, the burn and itch will go away. Of course, if you are not protected, the varmints will come back to feast. I keep a spray bottle with vinegar in my basket, and every now and again, spray my skin with the vinegar.
Lillian

I’m someone who understands the great need to cheer oneself up by shopping. There’s nothing like it for some women, and I’m one of them. What I’ve learned to do, however, to keep myself in line when this need strikes is to take maybe $10 and go to dollar stores. It works almost as well at cheering me up as a big spending orgy at a department store.
Margaret T.

When subscribing to a magazine, the first mailing often includes last month’s issue and, at the same time or within a day or so, next month’s issue. Since the older issue has been on the newsstands for a month or so, I think this is wrong. I guess it’s a way for them to reduce inventory. Make sure to call/email and ask them to extend your subscription one issue. In my experience, they’ve always complied.
Shreyas N. in Houston, TX

My husband loves the efficiency of Swiffer’s floor mopping system, but I hate the thought of continually buying bottles of cleaning solution and pads from them, at their price. There had to be a better way.
 
We had some large syringes left from our late cat’s final illness when he wouldn’t eat. The tip was large enough to deliver liquefied food into the side of his mouth, and the syringe itself holds 60 mL/2 oz. liquefied food. So, I got to thinking.
 
I added some Pine Sol to water in a measuring cup, loaded the
syringe, and carefully squeezed it through the hole into the reservoir bottle that gets punched when you first load it into the Swiffer mop. The mix went in without a hitch, and I was able to fill the bottle at a cost of about 10 cents. With a replacement bottle costing $4.60 or so, that’s quite a savings.
 
I figure that over a year, I’ll save about $50. That amount is nothing we’ll retire early on, but it’s silly to continually buy a particular product when lower-cost alternatives are available.
 
The next step is the cleaning pad. Aside from the cost, the goal is fewer plastic bottles and wet paper pads at the landfill. I suspect an old towel sewn through in several places to give rigidity with some Velcro strips so it will attach to the mop head will do the job nicely. At $5.50 or so for a box of 12, that’s another cost that will go away.
Liz

If your local tap water tastes bad, try putting it in clear plastic jugs and setting it outside for a couple of days. This can make even awful water taste good. My family discovered this after the well was contaminated and we started filling water bottles with town water that was notorious for its bad taste. After a couple of days in the sunlight (or even on cloudy days), the water was as good as filtered or bought water.
Cheryl

Before I met my husband, he was the sales manager for two four-star hotels in a major metropolitan city. He has always said that hotels make no money on their rooms, but rather they make money on the food and beverages they serve guests. Consequently, their goal is to get you into the hotel, spending your money. If a person accepts a room rate at the stated charge, that’s all the better for them, but most of the time, hotels run specials and deals that are not publicized. The only way to find out about them is to ask, “Is this the best deal you have?” Additionally, unless they are booked solid because of a convention, many hotels are willing to deal on rates and upgrades.
 
A couple of years ago, we visited family in another state, and because we were planning on hosting a family brunch for nearly 20 people at the hotel, the manager was more than willing to give us an upgrade to a suite at a rock bottom price. As you see, they wanted us in there, spending our money.
 
So when you’re planning a trip, call the 1-800 number for the hotel, but also call the front desk and check the hotel’s website. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask about deals and specials!
E.H.
Gary Foreman
The Dollar Stretcher
gary@stretcher.com