Key Protection

Ladies, when you are out running errands, shopping, walking, etc.,
always wear clothing with pockets. Always keep your house and car keys in
your pockets, not your purse. If someone snatches your purse, at least
you can drive your car and get into your home because you still have
your keys.

This tip was put to the test when my mom got knocked down during a
purse snatching in a discount store parking lot. She wasn’t seriously hurt
(thank goodness) and was able to drive home afterwards. She didn’t have
to call me to pick her up and drive her home, where she’d have been
forced to ask the apartment manager to let her into her place. When
you’ve just been mugged, you want as few hassles as possible!
Pam in Arkansas

Costume Monsters

Everyone was afraid of either the monster under their bed or the one in
their closet when they were a kid! I dressed my husband as the closet
monster. Shirts on hangers were safety pinned to his chest and back (as
if he hung in the closet with them) and his face was given monster
camouflage with whatever funky eye shadow colors I could smear on him. (Be
sure to check your t-shirt collection with your “Monster” or Halloween
theme in mind. My husband had a t-shirt that said, “This IS my
Halloween costume!”)

As an under-the-bed monster, I was wearing comfortable pajamas with all
sorts of things that disappear or roll under the bed pinned on,
including socks, wads of tissue, lint, hair, a cat toy or two and mismatched
slippers on my feet. I guess the kids could be dressed as dust bunnies!

Shelley H.

Ordering Books

When my child comes home with a book order form, I ask her to circle
all of the books she would like to order. I keep the order by my
computer, and the next time I log onto my library website, I put them on the
list to be sent to my local branch. She gets to read all of the books
that interest her without my budget getting busted and it is one less
thing to store.
Susan N.

Connect the Dots

Growing up with two sisters, my mother would always take a Rub-A-Dub
Marker and dot our clothes. She would use one dot for the oldest, two
dots for the middle child, and three dots for the youngest. They would be
a small dot on the tag of the clothes or on the back of jeans. This
works wonders and you can fold the clothes and sort them into piles
easily. She would dot our undergarments, socks, jeans, shirts, etc. I now
have three girls of my own, and this is working great for us!
Erin in Oklahoma

Organized Shelves

Shoe shops often have spare shoeboxes that people don’t take home after
their purchase. These are fantastic for storage and free to boot!
(Excuse the pun.) These boxes are usually clean, stackable, and often have
holes in the middle for easier handling. They look great with labels
and often give a nice official look to your shelves if you match the
boxes. When you don’t need them anymore, give them away, use for gift
boxes, or simply recycle.
Gilla

Long Hair Shampoo Secret

If you have past-shoulder-length hair, you can shampoo it much more
quickly and use less shampoo if you make a slightly loose pony tail before
wetting your hair. Shampoo and rinse the scalp and the ponytail as two
units. It’s amazing how much easier this is than shampooing and
rinsing all that loose hair.
Jana in Arkansas

Winter Car Trick

I hate to have to scrape the side view mirrors when it snows or sleets.
So, I decided to try something and it worked. I slipped a freezer bag
over the side view mirrors and then secured them with rubber bands so
snow or sleet didn’t get inside. Then I sprayed them on the outside with
non-stick vegetable spray. The next time we had a snow or sleet storm,
I just took the bags off! I didn’t have to scrape the mirrors, and I
got to work on time!
Aju P.

Time to Renew

Magazines are one of my simple pleasures, and yes, they can be found
for free. However, for me, there is a thrill when I find a fresh one in
my mailbox! Before Christmas is the best time of year to renew magazine
subscriptions. They often have offers you don’t see the rest of the
year. Sometimes, they include a Buy 1, Get 1 Gift subscription. Also, I
have found much better deals on the magazine’s actual website.
Jennifer in Rio Del Mar, California

Kiddy Napkins

When my children were a lot younger, I got tired of the napkin routine,
which included washing, ironing, etc. So, I purchased colorful wash
cloths and used them for napkins. They were fun and so easy to toss in
the washing machine to use over and over again.
Lillian G.

Ready to Travel

Use Craigslist to get vacation deals. We are going on a trip to Las
Vegas so I put a post for coupons for the Las Vegas area. I posted a
request on the LV Craigslist. I did the same when we planned on visiting San
Diego. I know a lot of locals don’t use car rentals or hotel coupons
too often so they sent whatever they had. It was so easy and free. You
can do this for any place you visit. Just go to craigslist.org and then
to the particular city you’ll be vacationing in and post.
Sandy P.

Foaming Carpet Cleaner

I made my own foaming carpet cleaner by purchasing liquid carpet
shampoo and pouring it into one of those pump dispensers that turn liquid
into foam. You use about a four to one ratio of cleaner to water. It
really stretches out a bottle of carpet shampoo and is much less expensive
than buying those special foaming cleaners.
Heather B. in CA
Gary Foreman
The Dollar Stretcher