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1. Check all mailings received from the old or new company owner or financial organization to see if these give any contact or plan transfer information. 2. Contact the Human Resources or Benefits department of the new company owner. 3. Contact the new financial organization directly. 4. The U.S. Dept. of Labor has a program to help people with abandoned plans. If that is what happened here, call 1-866- 444-EBSA or visit dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsorphanplans.html 5. And as a long shot, contact the Unclaimed Property office of any relevant state in case a distribution was done and they could not locate you to send you the money at missingmoney.com/Main/StateSites.cfm or unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner (click on Find Property) more on finding your lost retirement account In grocery store weekly flyers, the bargains and specials are on the first and last page only. These products will lure you to the store. Products on the pages in between are at regular price, but because they are in the flyer, the store gives the impression that the items are on special. Unsavvy shoppers will buy products (usually in quantity to save) without really saving. So, know your prices and compare (a price book is real handy). Also, weekly specials are organized by chain stores and span over a wide region, regardless of what's actually in stock. The store in your neighborhood might not have enough in stock to handle the demand. Ask for a rain check when this happens. When I clean my coffee maker, I brew a cup or two of white vinegar followed by a pot of water. I don't discard the vinegar. You can use the same vinegar three or four times to clean your coffee maker. Or, if you prefer, after you've brewed the vinegar, pour it down your kitchen drain to help clear clogs and smells. But even before doing that, take the vinegar you just brewed through your machine and put it in the microwave for about ten seconds to help loosen grease and dirt. Take it out and wipe the microwave clean. I've done a lot of costuming for community theatres and schools, especially for Shakespeare or other medieval shows. My biggest secret weapon is to layer finds from the thrift store! For a medieval man, you can use pants like Dockers (they use these at Renaissance Festivals) covered with an oversized Henley shirt. Button-down, collarless shirts also work well as do long sleeve t-shirts without cuffs. Think layers. A button- down, collarless shirt under a Henley, belted, under an unstructured vest works well. If you don't have boots, cut off the legs of a pair of pants at the knees, add casings top and bottom, and run elastic through them. These leg coverings are seen in movies like "Braveheart." For women, put a peasant blouse and a long skirt under a straight dress, knee length or below. The dress becomes a kirtle, which was high style in medieval times. Add a scarf and a headband for a veil. One of my favorite costumes for "Robin Hood" was a white skirt and blouse from my closet under a red velvet short sleeved dress bought for $3. It was cinched with a white belt that I purchased from the men's department for $1. A length of white sheer curtain panel made the veil and it was held on with a red headband. I have discovered drugstore.com and Upromise.com. Combined - I'm saving an average of 22-28% towards my daughter's college fund. I have found that I can buy a lot of my vitamins and bathroom essentials from drugstore.com for the same or lower price than I can at my discount drugstore. Plus I pay no sales tax on them - saving me 8.25% off the top. They ship directly to me - saving me gas and time to go buy each thing individually and keep a list of whatever I've bought. I also get discount dollars that I can spend like cash at the end of each quarter. Finally, if I go through the upromise.com portal to access drugstore.com - Drugstore.com contributes 4% of my total purchases to my daughter's college account. I've found the convenience and savings can't be beat in today's hectic world. I had to share some ideas for really cheap kids' birthday parties. We made it a point to invite either all the kids in my son's class or all the boys. Leaving anyone out was not allowed as it's too hurtful. Here are my ideas that worked best: 1. obstacle course - this was a great hit for the younger set - ages 4-8. I took objects from my garage and basement and created an obstacle course in the back yard. I used a milk crate, an old tire, some hula hoops taped together and suspended from the swing set, sidewalk chalk, some bricks, and a few other items I don't even recall. The kids had to jump up on the milk crate and back down, in the center of the old tire (a la football training camp), crawl through the hula hoops, hop over the bricks, etc. they were told in the invitation to wear play clothes. 2. day at the park - for free one can hold a birthday party at a park that has a playground. A park near us has two playgrounds close together. One is for toddlers and the other is for older kids. We packed picnic lunches items for the kids, got a picnic table, blew up a few balloons, and let the kids play to their heart's content. My husband and I were able to monitor the kids, but a few other parents always hung around to help. 3. ballpark tour - in St. Louis, one can tour the entire ballpark for free. We had the kids wear baseball uniforms (or whatever), had them dropped off at our home, drove two vans of kids to Busch stadium, and took the tour which included the dugout and a brief stint on the (then) Astroturf. It was impressive to see how huge the park is from the player's perspective. 4. pirate/princess day - using cast offs, thrift store and garage sale finds of clothing, hats, and junk jewelry, the kids had the time of their lives dressing up and acting out - usually star wars type vignettes. 5. We do not give out goodie bags for birthday parties. We have cake and Kool-Aid or a meal if the time is appropriate - but goodie bags are a waste of money and the kids never missed them. They're far too involved in the activity at hand to worry about a goodie bag. 6. The most expensive birthday party we ever had - and we had many of these - were pool parties. We belonged to a community pool where guests under age 12 were $1 each. A cake, Kool-Aid and a sunny day were all that were needed for a memorable day for all. I did this last year for my toddler son who loved Bob the Builder. I took a plastic hard hat I had, flannel shirt out of his closet, asked Grandma to find denim overalls (she sent 3!) and used his sneakers. He had a plastic tool set, so he carried his plastic tool box and I tucked a couple of plastic tools in his pockets. He may not have been the exact Bob the Builder, but he loved it and looked very cute. I was pretty proud of myself for not spending an extra penny on Halloween last year. I would like to suggest a disaster preparation that I learned the hard way after Hurricane Andrew. Always keep your pictures protected from water damage. I use big plastic garbage bags to keep the photo envelopes in. You can always replace furniture, appliances, etc., but you can't replace the sentimental items. Pour sugar on weeds that you want to kill. Sugar gets microbes into high gear. This is the reason that teeth rot from sugar. The sugar actually improves the health of your soil long term, but it will cause so much microbe action that the plant/root will overload and die. This is a great way to kill off stubborn thickets or vines. We live in Hawaii, and of course, the kids love to go to the beach. However, we all hate the sand. It gets in everything and sticks to skin. And it makes such a mess in the car. We have the perfect solution, which is baby powder. We just dust it on and dust off the sand. Sand comes right off. No more mess. I have three boys that I have managed to outfit for Halloween every year. The first place I look is the October issue of "Parents" magazine. They always have great ideas for costumes, and they are inexpensive to put together. Most of the items needed are found around the house. Next, I go to the second- hand stores. You'd be surprised what you can find there. Some of the stores even have a costume section and the prices aren't very scary! We have more luck with the adult costumes at the second-hand stores. There are also several websites that are nothing but ideas for costumes, especially themed and couple costumes. Just search for "Halloween costumes" on the Web. If you want covers for the front seats in your car, buy XXXL t-shirts and pull them over the seat backs. Use a few terrycloth towels for the seat. A great way to save money on video games is to wait about eight months after they come out. Most $50 titles drop to around $20 after that time period. To save money on your favorite sports games, just get the previous year's edition instead of the current one. Every fall, the sport's games for the next year roll out and the current or previous ones drop in price as a result. You might not have an exactly updated player roster, but that's why these games have "trade" functions in them to get the players you want on your teams. I have a suggestion for reclaiming sweaters to use for crocheting. I've used this technique for years. When unraveling a sweater, wrap the yarn between elbow and the notch between thumb and forefinger, if you don't have a yarn winder, which I do. When you reach the end of a length of yarn, tie it loosely (in bows, not knots) with scraps of yarn in four evenly spaced places. When all the yarn has been reclaimed, soak these "bundles" in cold water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from water, squeeze gently and lay flat to dry. When they have dried, you can then wind into balls. I also do this another way. I hold a short length in my hand as I wind the yarn around three fingers several times. As I continue to rotate the ball, I keep my thumb in the "hole" from which the yarn extends. When I've finished wrapping the entire ball, I tuck the outside end under a few strands of yarn, and can then pull the yarn from the center of the ball, so the ball doesn't roll around as I'm removing yarn. Just remember to wind the ball loosely, especially if it is wool. Wool stretches, and if a ball is wound too tightly, it won't pull easily from the center. I learned a lesson in frugality when I had a hard time finding fajita seasoning mix I had used several times. I spent 10 minutes staring at the large rack of seasoning mixes and finally found two packets left, stuffed in a corner. I bought both. When I had used both, I thought why should I spend all this time searching for mixes when surely I can make them. I got online, and within a few minutes, I had a recipe. It took me less time to find a recipe online than it did to look for a packet in the mix rack. I tried the mix, and it made great fajitas. I'm sold. Since then, I have found recipes for taco seasoning, spaghetti sauce, gravy, etc. I believe if there is a mix out there, you will find a recipe for it online. If you are like me and have a good supply of spices, this really can pay off. Many of the mixes can be mixed up in bulk and stored so you don't have to mix it every time. Have you ever gotten a scratch on your dark wood tables? Buy a small jar of instant coffee. Mix instant coffee with boiling water until it's the consistency of thick paint. Using a paint brush or sponge, cover the scratch. Let it sit about an hour. Then using a soft cloth, rub gently until excess coffee comes off. For a small area, you can use a thin coat of clear nail polish. You can also use this recipe to stain unstained furniture followed with varnish. It comes out beautiful. To stretch a meal, I make white rice. I usually add soup or salad dressing to taste. For instance, when a bottle of dressing is empty, I add some hot water to it, shake it up to get every last bit, and use the "flavored water" to cook the rice. This is not a big money saver, but it's better than wasting the last bit. Also, when making the store brand macaroni and cheese (40 cents a box), I cook some additional macaroni that I buy when it hits three one-pound boxes for $1. To stretch the macaroni and cheese, add just a bit more macaroni. Editor's note: Please send your tips to tips@stretcher.com. If we use your tip or reply to 'Can You Help' in any of our publications we'll send you the next three issues of our print newsletter as a 'thank you'.
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