Dollar Stretcher Tips courtesy of TheDollarStretcher.com.
Email your time or money saving tip to [email protected].
Coffee's Ready
The companies that advertise filter packs are pushing the convenience.
No fumbling for a filter and measuring coffee in the morning when you
are tired and in a rush to get somewhere. When I do the dinner dishes,
I put a filter and the coffee in the coffeemaker. By doing this, there
is no morning fumbling. Just add the water and hit the button like you
would with a filter pack!
Jamie H.
College Co-Op Programs
Northeastern University in Boston has a co-op program. My sister and I
graduated from there and it was a tremendous help to our parents in
financing our education. One year I was on co-op for nine months and
made $13,000 that year. It helps keep student loans to a minimum. And
as a physical therapist, the experience is accredited. Being out of
school seven years, I can claim nine years of experience, which
increases my pay scale. And the experience gave me more confidence for
my licensing boards.
Sue in San Antonio
Eliminating Centipedes
When I lived at home with my parents, the house they bought was full of
centipedes. They were everywhere you looked. We finally heard somewhere
that if you sprinkle 20 mule team Borax (laundry aisle at store) around
the edges of the rooms, it deters them from coming in the room. I did
this around my bedroom and never saw another centipede in there. I
would sprinkle more around the edges of the room after vacuuming.
Sarah
Supermarket Strategies
Near your supermarket's entrance door, you are likely to find temporary
shelves offering some name-brand item for sale. Let's use cookies as an
example. When you walk through the cookie aisle, you are likely to see
that the regular price of the economy brand of cookie is even lower
than the sale price of the national brand. Hence, do not be taken by
those so called sales. Give the economy brand items a chance. I am
finding that they are either just as good as the national brands or at
least good enough to justify the savings.
Also,
if your supermarket offers some sort of "member's discount" card, be
sure to use it or apply for one right away. (I have already saved a
month's rent with mine).
Joel
Trimming Expenses
In our family, we save both time and money by letting Mom trim
everyone's hair in between trips to the barbershop. Mom makes sure that
the styles are easy and trims her own bangs and our son's hair every
month.
Our goal as a family is to make a trip to
the barbershop every four months. This way we are only out $10 each
three times a year. This also saves time. We can enjoy ourselves
outdoors instead of spending one Saturday every month in the barbershop
waiting to get our hair cut.
Keith M.
From a Band Teacher
As a former band teacher, I have a few suggestions about obtaining
instruments fairly inexpensively. Common instruments like a trumpet,
trombone, flute, clarinet and saxophone can usually be found used for a
few hundred dollars. That's a lot until you consider that many of my
former students' parents went on to sell their old band instruments
after their children decided band wasn't for them for the same price
they paid for it!
Look in the classifieds for instruments. Some
pawn shops have instruments at a decent price. Many of my students'
parents were honest with me and I was able to assist them in locating a
good, used instrument. Do your homework just like you would any other
major purchase. An overhaul on a flute in my area varies from $75 to
$150. This is exactly what it sounds like. You end up with a
practically rebuilt instrument.
In Arkansas, they have a
program called "Play It Again!" in which instruments are donated to
enable all interested students to play in the band. Perhaps there is a
program such as this in your area. If not, try to get one started.
Music can be a wonderful and economical way to enrich your child's life.
Rejena A.
College Textbooks
Good sites for buying/selling college textbooks are half.com, bigwords.com, ecampus.com and amazon.com.
Kathleen H. in Alta Loma, CA
Environmental Savings
Most grocery stores offer a five cent per bag reduction from your total
purchase when you bring in your own bags. Think of all the paper and
plastic you'll save by reusing your clean, strong grocery bags!
Also,
if you bring in your own commuter cup to most coffee houses (like
Starbucks), they offer a ten cent per cup savings. Again, you are
helping our environment by reusing your own clean cup and you are
saving money!
Donna
Dripless Water Bottles
Put an old sport sock around a plastic water bottle. This prevents the
water from dripping and getting table surfaces wet. It is cheaper then
buying the "insulated" bottles, and it is washable!
Erica W.
Gloves: Round Two
If you get a hole in one of your rubber gloves, don't just throw it
out. Cut two or three strips about 3/4 inch wide from the top. These
make great rubber bands when you need a larger one than usual. Also,
cut the fingers off. These make great covers for your fingers if you
are wearing a bandage and help to keep the area clean when you are
doing a dirty job.
Jeanette M.
Minimal Service, Maximal Savings
Like many people, I have a cell phone, but I also want to keep a
landline for backup purposes. Where I live, in a large urban city,
unlimited phone service is around $30 a month. With a $35 cell phone
bill, I hated the idea that I was paying $65 per month just for phone
services. I don't even make that many phone calls!
I called my local phone provider and asked about limited calling plans. They have a plan whereby I can make up to 30 calls a month for $14.88. There are no restrictions on incoming calls or minutes used. They told me that if I exceeded the 30 calls, each call was 8 cents.
I
did some quick figuring. For me to approach my normal bill of around
$30, I would have to make more than 185 extra phone calls beyond my
baseline of 30 that was included in the price. I'll never come close to
doing that. I'm going to save about $180 this year with the change.
Barbara B.
Save Some Dough
I never liked the taste of any type of bread that had been frozen and
then thawed. The crust always seemed "funky" after it thawed. Having
recently adopted three little girls, we now go through about three
loaves of bread per week. I was always running to the store for bread.
My friend told me to thaw the bread on a cooling rack to get airflow
underneath it.
I now buy bread every time it's
on sale, and it tastes better and fresher than the first day that I
bought it. I think the airflow underneath is the trick. Who would've
known? This has saved me numerous trips to the grocery store for that
fresh loaf of bread.
Shelly in Fort Lauderdale
Cracked Carafe
As we all know, coffeemaker carafes are flimsy and crack easily either
in the sink or if it comes in contact with your faucet a little too
fast! I found that my local Church thrift store carries a multitude of
carafes that sell for around one to two dollars. So try your thrift
stores before ordering a new one or buying another coffee maker!
Marcia
Bridesmaids Dresses
I am constantly hearing complaints from bridesmaids about their
dresses. They are spending hundreds of dollars for a dress (sometimes a
hideous one!) that they will never wear again. This often ruins the
feeling of honor and excitement about being asked to be in a friend's
wedding.
Instead of choosing dresses that are
all the same, why not just specify the color and maybe the fabric and
length? Let the bridesmaids choose their own dresses. For example, you
could specify ankle-length, cobalt blue satin. It's obviously easier if
you choose a more common color. I did this for my wedding and my best
friend did it for her wedding as well. I found my beautiful dress at a
thrift store for $10! The effect is really just as nice. If you think
the bridesmaids will have trouble finding an appropriate dress, you can
always suggest a catalog or store for ideas.
Judy G.
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