Cheaper Homemade Pizza

Before buying that Boboli(r), check with your local pizza franchise. Most are willing to part with dough patties, pepperoni, cheese, etc. for less than half what the grocery stores will charge you.
Emily

Neat Indoor Plant Watering

To water flowers indoors, under your carport or anywhere you don’t want to make a mess, take an old dish detergent bottle and fill it with water (the kind that has the pull-out tip on it). This type of bottle works great. Add some Miracle-Gro(r) or other favorite fertilizer, and watch the mess disappear and the flowers grow.
Legenia S.

Sewing Patterns

Here is a tip for people who sew. Sewing patterns are getting expensive, and especially with children’s patterns, you end up cutting off three or more sizes when you cut out a pattern. I got this tip from a quilter. Trace the pattern onto freezer paper and cut out the freezer paper. Use the freezer paper to cut the pattern pieces out of your fabric. Iron the freezer paper to the fabric so you do not have to mark up your fabric with dots, dashes, etc.
Ashley
                   
Great Looking Skin!

Instead of going to the spa and paying a fortune for an exfoliating treatment. I use a “soft” toothbrush with a little Cetaphil(r) lotion to scrub my face. This really takes care of any blackheads or dead skin and is much cheaper. So every few days, I get a really nice spa treatment for a fraction of the cost.
Kathy
Garden In a Bag

This is a great tip on growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. in any location, especially if you have poor or hard soil. Buy a bag of good top soil or potting soil. Make a few slits in the bottom of that bag and a hole or two in the top of the bag, depending on which plant you want to grow. Lay this on top of the ground. It could be in the flowerbed or garden. Just plant in the holes, water and watch them grow. You can group several together and mulch around them with leaves or grass clippings if you do not like the look of the plastic. If you check the home stores and garden centers, you can usually purchase bags of soil that are already damaged with small holes for half the price. The bags will usually last a year or more.
Darlene J.
Reducing Razors Cost

Recently I went to the store to buy replacement blades for my razor. It is one of the many new razors with all the bells and whistles like three blades, pivoting head, lubricating strip, etc. When I got to the store, I found that four replacement blades were approximately $10. After wondering if the razor was really worth the cost of the blades, I noticed that the store also sold disposable versions of the same razor that were $3 less than the replacement blades for the same quantity. Since I have to get a new blade once every week or two, this could add up to a substantial savings over time without giving up the quality of the shave that I like.
Samuel L.

Cheap Cuts of Meat? No Problem!

My husband and I both work with people who are new immigrants to our country. Some don’t have much money to spend on nice cuts of meat. However, they bring delicious foods to work and the meat is so tender and flavorful! They told us their secret. It’s the pressure cooker. Apparently, the new electric pressure cookers are much safer than the stovetop ones.
 
The pressure cooker has become my new best friend! I cooked a roast the other day in less than an hour that was so tender I could cut it with a fork. Flavoring that is added seems to permeate into the meat under the high pressure. Even tough meat like skirt steaks are tender when cooked in the pressure cooker. I haven’t tried it yet, but our friends say that beans and lentils cook very quickly as well.
Jen in Wheaton, Illinois

Reducing Attorney’s Fees

Don’t be afraid to negotiate your attorney’s fee! My husband and I received a bill from our attorney for a revision of some paperwork. The bill was about twice as high as what we were expecting. We didn’t feel the small job warranted such a high fee and felt it was out of line in comparison to what we were charged a few years ago when the initial paperwork was drawn up. With my husband not working, I felt I had nothing to lose by calling the attorney and asking her to review the statement. When I explained my reasons for asking for a reduction, she was very pleasant and unhesitatingly offered about a third off the bill. Undoubtedly she did not want to lose us as future customers, and we both were happy with the solution. 
 
As much as I dreaded making that phone call, I would have hated even more overpaying for a service. It was much less painful than I anticipated and well worth the effort, particularly when I told my husband how much money I saved us that day!
Paula

Vinegar? Not Always!

In a zeal for frugal living, many people tout vinegar as almost a be-all and end-all of cleaning products. While vinegar is great at removing water stains and good for making glass and metals shine, don’t use it in place of all your cleaners. 
 
As a Ph.D. chemist, my husband informs me that vinegar is a bactrostatic. It temporarily immobilizes, but does not kill bacteria. So if you are using vinegar to clean your countertops or toilet, it really isn’t helping to keep your home as clean as you think. 
 
The more frugal, environmental choice is to buy a concentrated organic biocide. You add the water, so it’s more expensive up front, but it will last longer and actually kill bacteria. And concentrated cleaners are lighter to ship from manufacturer to store to home, which is also good for the environment.
Lyn K. in Wenatchee, WA