Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[snoopybabe]

[Awhile back I made "deviled egg sandwiches" for lunch for my DD, her DH, and my DGD.. They all love deviled eggs, but you have to eat quite a few of them to fill up.. So - I make the deviled egg part from the yolk in the traditional manner - then dice up the white part of the egg - mix it all together - and presto! You have a more filling deviled egg sandwich.. [/QUOTE]

That sounds delicious. I will have to try that. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[MELSMICE]

[Awhile back I made "deviled egg sandwiches" for lunch for my DD, her DH, and my DGD.. They all love deviled eggs, but you have to eat quite a few of them to fill up.. So - I make the deviled egg part from the yolk in the traditional manner - then dice up the white part of the egg - mix it all together - and presto! You have a more filling deviled egg sandwich..

That sounds delicious. I will have to try that. Thanks for the recipe.[/QUOTE]
That's how I make an egg salad sandwich - just the eggs & mayo/Miracle Whip. I don't mix them up separately though. I have an egg slicer, which cuts the entire egg into tiny pieces. Then I just mix the mayo in & spread it on the bread.

 

[Carrie772]

Another along the same lines...don't use fabric softener, use vinegar instead (it really does work, I promise!!). Vinegar also works well instead of JetDry in the dishwasher.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread!

BTW, this method puts what looks like oily spots on our colored tshirts. I only do it on towels now. Just a heads up!

 

[mjantz]

I placed an order with Sephora the other day. Each order comes with 3 free samples. I always get annoyed that I can't use all the sample before it dries out. I realized yesterday that I had some extra contact lens cases. I squeezed a moisturizer sample into one 'eye' & it's stayed good & hasn't dried out. I think this will be great for traveling. Just bring an extra case & some samples and I'm all set!!

 

[minnie1928]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread!

BTW, this method puts what looks like oily spots on our colored tshirts. I only do it on towels now. Just a heads up!

Really? I've been doing this for about 3-4 years and haven't seen any oily spots.

 

[pampam]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread!

BTW, this method puts what looks like oily spots on our colored tshirts. I only do it on towels now. Just a heads up!

I didn't quite understand what you meant. Are you saying vineger puts oily spots on our clothes? Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Carrie772]

I didn't quite understand what you meant. Are you saying vineger puts oily spots on our clothes? Sorry for the confusion.

They aren't necessarily oily spots...as in they aren't oily to the touch. Just darker in color as if they were oily.

 

[Kycha]

Really? I've been doing this for about 3-4 years and haven't seen any oily spots.

Ditto. I have been using vinegar as a fabric softener for 5+ years and have never had any oily spots. I do put the vinegar in a downy ball. I don't know if that is the difference.

 

[pampam]

??

 

[pampam]

I've been getting those kinds of spots on my laundry for years. I still don't know what they are from, or how to stop them. I don't use vinegar in my laundry, or fabric softener.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

What a great thread! I just stumbled across it so now I have to go back and read through all the pages . Here are a few of my "stretching" tips (I apologize if they have been mentioned before):

* I filled empty water bottles up with rocks and put them in the tank of the toilet. They also make Toilet Tummy's that do the same thing, but empty bottles do the same trick. I save a few dollars off my water bill doing this.

* I save napkins given from fast food places, amusement parks, festivals/functions, etc. I keep a stack of them going in my car's console and when it gets too big I bring them in the house to use around the house.

* When I know it's going to rain or storm I put some heavy duty buckets outside. We have a ton of plants that need daily watering in this heat so I use the buckets in the days after the storm (we have well water for the outside of the house, but it still uses power to pump it).

Ok, now I'm off to start at the beginning! Keep the ideas coming!

 

[Jared Matthews]

using vinegar for washing of your clothes doesn't harm these too much..nor that smell like it..but if you have any other options then surely they are welcomed...

 

[angierae]

The "oily spots" on your clothes could be coming from your washing machine itself. I know I've heard of people complaining about it and they ended up needing their washer serviced.

 

[pampam]

bump

 

[bankgirl05]

I never throw out the plastic grocery bags. I hang it on the laundry door, off my kitchen, and throw all my paper/dry garbage in it. Sure saves on the tall kitchen garbage bags!
I also have my paper towels, on top of the refridge...not convenient for the kids, and we use far less! Last year when I wasn't working, I never bought them, but I sure missed them when I made bacon.

I use the Paper grocery bags for draining bacon, gr beef etc. just not the side that has anything printed on it.

 

[bankgirl05]

There was a tip earlier in this thread about making your own dryer sheet that might be a good fit for you. Put a rag in a ziploc bag...pour in regular, liquid fabric softener...enough to soak the rag. Then hang the rag outside to dry in the sun. Tada! Homemade dryer sheet. You will get dozens, if not hundreds of uses out of it.

I did this once with the most popular (and expensive) fabric softener and since it was blue, it seemed to stain some of my whites and lights while drying. (and of course the dryer sets stains.) the blue color washed out after 2 washes, but what a waste of water and electricity!!! Next time around I bought a bargain brand (colorless-well really just a very pale yellow) and it worked well! I will also reuse dryer sheets by just dipping them in this fabric softener for a quick sec. (and letting most of it drip off) ans throwing them in the dryer.

 

[redrosesix]

We've just been through a really rough time financially. But I swear it will make me richer in the long run.

A few of the things I changed...
Instead of using paper towels to wipe up icky messes, I use newspapers that were going to be recycled anyways -- they're free. Also good for clearing out dishes before they're washed.

We no longer use our dryer at all. It's cold here and our big cast iron rads get clothes dry very fast if it's below freezing and we can't hang things on the line outside (and yeah, anything above freezing and our laundry is out in the morning, always dry when I get home at supper time)

The big savings was in gas consumption. It takes more gas to idle your engine for more than 10 seconds than it does to re-start your car. So our car gets turned off much more than it did before (like in drive-thrus). And we never use our car for just 1 errand -- everything gets done on the way to or from something else, like when I go shopping while my DD is doing gymnastics. Funny thing is, we've been saving a lot of time too :

 

[semo233]

This was a wonderful thread and is now burried! I'm bringing it back to life!! What's YOUR best tip?

 

[reginaastralis]

This IS a great thread, and I was just thinking about it the other day. I've gotten a lot of great ideas from this thread as well.

The only "tip" I have probably won't work for everyone, but hey ... it's worth a shot. My boyfriend is the only one working right now (I'm in school, but not for the summer) so we split up the bills by the week, and since he's a server, we put the money as it's made into the correct envelope. It's a crazy system, but it works.

For example: Our electric bill should be right around $120/month (it's our first month in our new house, so who knows?!) ... and the way we used to do it, was we'd hope that money would be in the bank when the bill came in, or my boyfriend would have to pick up extra shifts. Oh it was a nightmare. I won't even say how long that would go on, but ... it was awhile. So, now we know we only need $30/week, which isn't much, and we aren't freaking out at the end of the month when the money is gone ...

 

[maggs1035]

Since no one has answered you yet - yes, in the same compartment you would put the JetDry in. I have been using white vinegar for this for ages and it works just as well as JetDry IMO.

My appliance repair man told me to poor some white vinegar in the bottom of my dishwasher and run it thru empty to clean it out