Readers' Tips

I have two suggestions. One is preventative and one will clean the salt from the floor mats.

First, next fall, go to your local carpet store and see if they have carpet square samples in the back for sale or for free. They normally have enough choice in color that you can find something to match your interior. This will really take the abuse that you now see on your mats from this past winter.

The cleaning solution I use on almost every part of my car is Castrol Super Clean. You can use it straight from the bottle for an engine degreaser or dilute it for the interior of your car. The bottle has instructions on it to guide you through the diluting process and what works best for the different parts of your car. I use it on the entire interior, and it has a nice clean scent to it. I buy the gallon at Wal-Mart and distribute it into smaller bottles around the house.
Jason in Wisconsin

More suggestions on how to remove the winter from your car so it's ready for summer driving

I had many candles in my home that had burned down to the bottom of the wick, but still had a lot of wax left in the jar. I was going to melt them and make new smaller candles, but I wasn't sure how to get the wax out of the jar to melt it.

I didn't have an old pot and I didn't want to use my good pots, so I put the jar on the top of my burning wood stove to melt the wax. Then, I was going to pour it into a new container with a wick and make a smaller candle.

Well, much to my surprise, when the wax was melting on the wood stove, the scent was filling my home. So, there was no need to make a new candle. I continue to put the burned down candles (in heat resistant containers!) on my burning wood stove to fill my home with the fragrance and save myself the time of making new ones.
Barbara in Washington, New Jersey

Like most people, I find ironing to be a chore. To help motivate me and to make the ironing seem worth my time and effort, I do the following. Every time I pull out the iron and spray starch, I record the number of shirts, slacks, skirts, etc. that I ironed. I keep this "log" taped to the door on which my ironing board is attached.

By doing this, I see the incredible savings add up by not making expensive trips to the cleaners to have items starched and pressed (the cleaners charge about $1.25 for each shirt, more for blouses, and $2.50 for slacks where I live).

As an added incentive, set a monetary goal in savings and then treat yourself to something special (a manicure or pedicure, new hairstyle, new article of clothing, etc.) and spend only half the savings. You'll still be ahead and you'll have something to show for your efforts.
Tania
Houston, TX

Long before my need to be frugal, I was perpetuated by a desire to cut down on landfill waste, so I took my cue from our local restaurant. We switched to cloth napkins nine years ago. I was tired of paying for package after package of paper napkins and paper towels that the family barely used and tossed away.

I picked up twelve 100% cotton napkins with lace edges (for less than a dollar each) and we have used these same ones most of those years (I have occasionally picked up some at estate sales)! They are easy to toss into the laundry, they don't take much space, and they have held up well to all those hot water washings. Guests at our table think they are extra special to be greeted by cloth napkins. My pocketbook and nearby landfill are much happier.

Related to this as well, we are big campers and do not believe in hauling tons of paper plates, napkins, plastic forks and such along with us. Each of us has our "meal kit." It's amazing how well everyone cleans up and takes care of the dishes when they can't fall back on disposable mentality. The house and campsite are much cleaner places!
Melissa

When my daughter was little, I made a lot of her clothes. When she got older, I took some of her outgrown clothes or scraps of material I had leftover and made her a quilt with a butterfly pattern. Each butterfly had wings made of a once loved shirt or dress. She is 19 now and loves her quilt that holds so many memories.
LDG

I just read your article about purchasing versus renting band instruments. http://www.stretcher.com/stories/02/02aug05f.cfm> My father is a band director and suggests the following to his parents.

1. Check pawn shops if you doubt a kid will stick with it long. Their prices are often much lower than the music store.

2. See if the music store has a return policy. Many will take rental instruments back after a year with no penalties.
Genevra M

My 5-year-old was prone to severe nosebleeds, especially in her sleep. Luckily, I heard about a remedy that not only works, but it saves me money, too! The reason for her nosebleeds was usually dry air. A humidifier works, but it is noisy and messy when it gets spilled!

The remedy? I bought several wooden clothes bars. Now, instead of using my dryer, I simply dry most of our laundry (especially the heavier things such as jeans, towels, etc.) on the bars in her room. Since I started doing this about a year ago, she has not had one incident of a nosebleed!
LDP

Here's a great way to clean a microwave! Wet a dishcloth. Don't wring it out too much and put it in the microwave for one minute on high. Once it is done, leave it in the microwave for 10 minutes. Open and wipe down!

All the dried on food will come off easily with a quick wipe! Microwaving a dishcloth for a minute kills all the germs, too!
Eliza
Vancouver BC Canada

If you want to save money on your water bill, here's one thing that really helps. Fill a bottle with water and put it in the tank of your toilet. Put it away from the works, so it doesn't interfere with the ball. Flush first and then place it where you want while the tank is empty. It will take less water to fill the tank, and you won't notice the difference when you flush. But you'll be using that much less water with every single flush!

For some toilets, you can simply adjust the filler mechanism to stop the incoming water at a lower level.

The more toilets you do this to, the more money you will save on your water bill! Save water and save money!
Kathy

I put a spoonful of baking soda in a preserving jar or similar size container with lukewarm water. Swish your brush and comb in it to dissolve the stuff that sticks to your comb. Then leave the brush or comb to soak. Any impurities will come off like magic! Later, just rinse and put in sun to dry.
TD
New Zealand

At my house, we use the rings that seal the top on the plastic milk cartons to keep socks together in the laundry. Push the socks through the ring and wash and dry as usual. No more lost socks.
Pam in Ohio

Place a dryer sheet or two on the outside of your outer door during the mosquito season. It really does help to keep them away.
Joann B.

I buy ground beef in bulk when it's on sale. I repackage it into one-pound units by weighing it on a small kitchen scale, put it into resealable freezer bags, and flatten the packages after sealing them. I lay the packages on the shelves of my freezer until frozen, then they stack easily.

I can then take out only what I need. I defrost them in the microwave, which saves a lot of time as well.
Carl

I found a way to get grease off clothing. It can be anything from cooking grease to car grease or axle grease. My husband is in sales and he is in and out of his car all day and in some filthy places. You can buy a bottle of eucalyptus oil in the pharmacy section of Wal-Mart or other discount type stores.

It costs a little, but it will last and last and last. And it does not spoil. My sister and I have used the same bottle for eight years. I have saved so many dress pants/shirts and all kinds of other clothes. It even gets the greasy food stains off clothes. I have yet to find anything it would leave a stain on and it has never hurt my clothes. Our clothes look nice much longer. Believe me, it has saved many clothes.

Also Murphy's Oil Soap is a furniture polish and laundry stain remover. It works much better as a laundry stain remover than a furniture polish. I swear by it.
Bonita T.

My eyes began to do the "mid-40s thing" and I had to break down and buy reading glasses. Well, even nonprescription ones in the drug store cost about $20 a pop.

Then, I discovered the dollar store. They were loaded with reading glasses in most every style imaginable. They even have the trendy names on the tags, such as Gloria Vanderbilt, Foster-Grant, Anne Klein, etc. The price? $1 per pair. They include store closeouts, discontinued styles and some seconds. Who cares?

Oh, I have one last tidbit. Being new to needing glasses often during the day, I was forever laying them down and then spending lots of time trying to find them. Solution? I bought ten pair (total $10) and put a pair in every room in my house. Now I spend very little time trying to locate them. Whenever a pair breaks or scratches badly, I say "oh well" and toss them in the garbage, and replace them for a buck!
Cathy

I am slowly learning to turn my black thumb green, but I don't want to shell out a lot of money while I am still learning to care for plants. Whenever I am visiting with someone who has plants I admire, I ask them how they take care of it and ask for a cutting. I've never been turned down, and knowing that I have this little memento of a friend or family member keeps me motivated to care for the plant. People are touched that you want to include them in your home this way.
Judi McL.
Boston, MA

Check with your employer. You may be able to buy US savings bonds through a payroll savings plan.

If you keep the serial numbers and issue dates of the savings bonds in a different location from the actual bonds (like your parent's house or your place of work), the government will replace them if they are lost (from fire) or stolen.

The US government also has a place on the net where you can access a free program where you enter all the serial numbers and issue dates of your bonds. You can add the new bond(s) each month, update your inventory and the program comes back and tells you what each bond and your whole portfolio is worth. You can print this out and have all the numbers and issue dates on a couple of pages.

Savings bonds are a really painless way to save, especially if you have a payroll savings plan.
Anita

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