Nearly everyone keeps a bottle of Aspirin in their medicine cabinet. Who would have thought they could be useful for more than just getting rid of a bad headache!
1. Revive dead car batteries: If you are unable to find anyone to give you a boost, a way to revive your battery is to drop 2 Aspirin tablets directly into the battery to produce one final charge so you can drive to a garage.
2. Control Dandruff: You can treat dandruff by crushing 2 Aspirin tablets and mixing it with your shampoo. Keep the mixture in your hair for about 3 minutes, rinse well, and then wash your hair again with plain shampoo.
3. Relieve mosquito bites and bee stings. Rub Aspirin over the irritated areas on your skin and it will relieve the inflammation.
4. Prolong the life of cut flowers. Crush an Aspirin tablet and mix it with the water in your vase before adding your flowers.
5. Remove perspiration stains. Crush 2-3 Aspirin tablets and mix with a half cup of warm water. Soak the stained area in the mixture for about 3 hours.
I’m always up for trying things that eliminate waste and make financial sense, so when I saw the advertisement on TV for Debby Meyer’s Green Bags I thought I would test them out. I picked them up at a local store and was ready to test their magic. The ad suggests that vegetables and fruits will last ten times as long if you keep them in Green Bags. Unfortunately, they do not work. At least not for green and red peppers, bean sprouts, grapes, green onions, and any other vegetables and fruits I put in them. I hate throwing out food so I really hoped they would work. I wanted to let you know so you don’t waste your money on them.
In many places the tap water is safe to drink, but with all the chlorine and various minerals in the water, many people prefer to drink bottled water or lug those huge water jugs home every week. When we first moved into our home our water both tasted and smelled like mold. We were willing to try anything. We decided to take the big jug route, but after a few months of carrying those big jugs full of water we decided to try something else. We purchased a water filtering system from the Home Depot (GE Dual Stage Water Filtration System) for about $160.00 and my husband installed it himself. The filters need replacing approximately every 6 months (depending on family size and water usage) and they cost about $60.00. So, for about $120 a year we can drink good-tasting water without the hassle of carrying heavy jugs or harming the environment with hundreds of used water bottles.
You may have never heard of power cycling before but it is a great trick that solves a wide range of problems with electrical devices. For example, if your printer isn’t responding after you have requested something to print, or if your Internet cable modem is not working properly a power cycle will often fix it. A power cycle is performed by simply unplugging the power cable from the outlet and waiting for about 30 seconds before plugging it back in. This action refreshes your device and almost always solves the problem. So, if you’re having trouble with one or more of your electronic gadgets, before throwing it out or spending money on unnecessary repairs, be sure to power cycle. It’s amazing how something so simple can solve so many problems!
There are so many neat ways to use baking soda. Although there are other products specifically designed for each of these functions, baking soda is a natural and inexpensive alternative. Try some of these out to see how they work for you.
1. Put an open box of baking soda in your fridge and freezer to absorb odors. 
2. Use baking soda in your cat litter to eliminate odor.
3. Put soda in the wash water if you have clothes stained with oil or grease.
4. Soda can be used to put out fires so some people keep a box of soda near their stove, in their garage, etc.
5. Use soda to clean vegetables and fruit.
6. Helps remove burned on food from frying pans – soak the pan in water and baking soda for a few minutes and then the food will come off more easily.
7. Use soda to clean your coffeemaker and dishwasher by running a cycle with soda.
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Here are some penny-saving tips to consider when doing your laundry:
1. Only wash full loads – There is no need to waste water and energy to do a partial load.
2. If you are a homeowner, put up a small clothesline in your backyard and hang your clothes out to dry in the sun. Not only are you saving energy, you can’t beat the fresh smell on your clothes even from using scented fabric softener sheets. You can also hang clothes to dry year round in your basement.
3. Wash your clothes in cold water.
4. When it comes to detergent the store brand ones work just as good as the name brands and they are a lot less money. If you are tired of spending money on laundry detergent and enjoy trying new things, you can find a lot of homemade laundry detergent recipes online. I have never tried them but there’s a first time for everything!
5. Also, you can use Dawn dish soap instead of the more expensive stain removers.
6. If you use fabric softener, try using white vinegar instead. All you need is half a cup. If you prefer fabric softener sheets, use half a sheet rather than the whole thing. They’ll last twice as long and provide the same result.
7. To keep your clothes dryer running efficiently make sure to clean out the lint trap after every load.
It’s amazing how you can even save money doing a task as mundane as laundry!
