cheap ways to get by ...

[shortnlovabl3]

i'll use the plastic bags you get from stores for garbage bags

[hlvhome]

I use the boric acid also. It is the best ant repellent ever, it also works on spiders which we have here. No commercial bug spray works on those spiders they are like mutant or something they just shake the spray of and keep spinning, so glad I saw the tip on boric acid, cheap and safe.

[hlvhome]

I soak an old piece of scrap flannel in fabric softener, let it air dry and use as a dryer sheet. It works for about twenty loads. Cheap easy was to make the fabric softener last forever.

[debrar]

I have always used the dryer sheets for my window units air conditioners and throwing some under the seats in the car leaves a great smell too. I think I will try soaking flannel in fabric softener and see how that works. You can also save your small bar soaps and melt them and remold them with an old pringle's can have more soap. Lotion can be watered down too, when you buy a new bottle save the old bottle and divide them in half, add warm water and mix. I usually buy the thickest lotion I can find and this works real well. 

[plennis]

When I clean up after dinner and have just a few vegetables left over, not enough for the next day. I have a zip lock bag in the freezer, I toss in the leftovers and when I make a vegetable soup or need vegetables around a roast or other meat I take out the bag and use.  I also throw the extra vegetables in there when I am chopping up for something and I have a few to many.  OK I know I am a cheapskate, but we are really broke.....I do the same thing with little pieces of left over meat, so a lot of the soups I make are really  free!   They are delicious and really quick to make, since everything for the most part has already been cooked and you use things that probably would have been thrown out.   If bread is getting a little stale, I cut it into cubes and saute in butter and spices ......Croutons.   Sometimes when I don't have time for that I throw in the blender and make breadcrumbs.                

[kqa]

I'm not sure that I have any use for that but it sounds like a great idea. I love the tip about Vaseline keeping ants out!

[natashaspy]

I'll have to try  that to. Thanks. Here is one for you if you use dryer sheets. Put a sheet in your register vents just make sure it stays attatched. It helps freshening up the room.

dryer sheets are also great for cleaning eye glasses (after they've been used of course)... once they have been run through the drying they're soft and wont leave lint or scratches on the lenses

[momoney555]

I use baking soda for so many things.  It is so cheap. It can be used to deodorize anything. Garbage disposals, refrigerators, even in place of anti perspirant, in a pinch.  Mixed with warm water and an aspirin it works just like alka seltzer and just a pinch of soda followed by some warm water works just like Rollaids or Tums.  Soda is also excellent when used as a scouring powder for cleaning because it is natural and does not scratch even the most delicate surfaces. It is great for cleaning white atheletic shoes.  And if you are one of those people who takes aspirin daily for circulation issues, taking a pinch of soda with the aspirin as a buffer, cuts down your chances of the aspirin irritating your stomach. I have also used a solution of soda and vinegar to do some spot cleaning on carpets.

[vickysue]

We have a lot of yellow jackets in our part of the country. Usually never gets cold enough in the winter to kill them. So we mix boric acid in small cans of catfood. Hang it when the cats can't get to it and no more yellow jeckets.

[clickers]

I buy the electric insect repellent. You buy it once and it keeps out all the bugs.

Also I use crystal light powder to make our drinks, it's low in calories and you get more for the money.

[Laurieandjohn]

I love all these Ideas and have used quite a few of them has anyone heard of moth *bleep* in your flower beds to keep the molse from stealing your flowering bulbs of most kinds works every year for me  we also throw the moth *bleep* all around our camp when we close up in the fall keeps the rodents from trying to get under the camp

[momoney555]

If you have mice coming into your house or apartment when the weather outside starts to get cold, cheap steel wool will solve your problem.  Just look for the places mice enter.  This is usually around any opening where pipes come in; gas stove pipes, plumbing pipes, heating pipes. Usually over time these openings can become wide enough for them to enter and you may suddenly find yourself with a rodent problem where you have never had one before.  Simply fill openings around the pipes with the steel wool and mice will not come near it because it cuts them. Much cheaper than an exterminator.

[moonangel]

when my kids lived at home they kept ruining my bulliten board i kept their chore list and events listed on it so i took three sheets of cardboard placed them together used duct tape around the edges poked a hole in the back stuck it on a nail they never tore it up its still hanging up right where i put it .

[carty1]

I would also get anything that would work to get ride of bugs. I hate bugs.

[Elder_J]

Ill definitely be trying this, great idea!