Save money on Oxyclean & Magic Eraser

It's been awhile since I have shared some frugal tips. Found these and I wanted to pass them along.

google image picture

Oxyclean is just sodium percarbonate with filler added. You can buy sodium percarbonate directly from amazon that is much more concentrated and cost efficient. 

Magic Eraser-They're just melamine sponges. You can order hundreds for like 8 dollars. Magic Erasers has some kind of cleaning product in them since it creates a sort of "foam" when you wet it and start scrubbing. It's actually when wet, the melamine will start to break down. The fine substance yields a slight abrasive content.

The cheaper ones are usually a lot less dense. That means they wear out quickly. They work just as well though, and it's still a much better deal in terms of amount cleaned per dollar.

Here are a few links if you would like to get some

EBay

Ali Express

Senior Discounts

I needed a few things for the bathroom and saw what I wanted at TJ MAX. I noticed a sign that said "seniors" get a 10% discount on Mondays.  Saved quite a few dollars on my order. 

Sometimes it does pay to be old!

Here is a  list of additional discounts from-Brads Deals

Save money on groceries

When it comes to grocery stores, no matter where I am, they seem to call my name and I come running.

While traveling I've been to the only grocery store in Bonaire, which I was surprised the eggs were not refrigerated to a tiny grocery store in Yap where there were tons of Pringles, never knew they came in so many flavors!

At home Walbaums is my favorite and King Kullen if they have anything good on sale. I know almost all the cashiers by name and they know me. I usually head over to Best Yet in Riverhead because their prices are so much lower.

When I found this link, I knew I had to share it ASAP! 

Save Money on Prescriptions

I picked up a prescription yesterday and was shocked at the price. One month- 160.00 dollars.

I found this site and hope it helps everyone save some money.

http://www.goodrx.com/

Pinch that Penny

The Only Spot Remover You Will Ever Need

Mix one part Dawn plain dishwashing liquid, with two parts hydrogen peroxide, pour it directly on the stain, and watch it disappear like magic. If it's a big stain on a large garment, you can mix the same equation and add it to a bucket of hot water and just dunk the entire garment in there. This works on almost any stain and will even get rid of chocolate, red wine, and barbecue sauce




Tub Cleaner - vinegar and dish soap, no scrubbing! Heat 1/2C white vinegar in m'wave for 90 sec, pour int spray bottle. Add 1/2C BLUE Dawn dish soap. Shake gently to mix. Spray on surface, let it sit 1-2 hours. Just wipe it away then rinse with water. Should also take soap scum off shower doors!



Homemade Fabric Softner in 5 Easy Steps:

Here are the items that you will need:

1 cup Baking Soda

... 6 cups White Vinegar

6 cups Hot Tap Water

2 cups cheap hair conditioner or 2 cups of your favorite store bought fabric softener

Here are the 5 Easy Steps:

Step 1. In a 4-5 gallon bucket add 1 Cup of Any Brand Baking Soda.

Step 2. Add 1 Cup of White Vinegar (you will be using 6 total cups of white vinegar for this recipe.)

Step 3. Add 6 Cups of Hot Tap Water

Step 4. Add 5 Cups of White Vinegar

Step 5. Add 2 cups of low cost Hair Conditioner or 2 cups of your favorite fabric softener.

Follow the above steps. Stir, fill your containers and give the container a shake or two before you use it. Use the same amount of your homemade softener as you would normally use the store bought brand. I made two batches and it cost me under $4 for both of the pictured containers! This will last the two of us for at least 4 months.





Clean grout with the following recipe: 7 cups water, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/3 ammonia and 1/4 vinegar...spray on and leave for an hour or two!

Green Onions

This is a fabulous tip! You will never buy green onions again!

Once you cut the greens add the bulb ( the white part) to water in a small glass and sit it on your window shelf.

                                                              This is 10 days after the cut

Frugal tips

In case of fragrances building up from gym are less than ideal, throw some dry tea bags in running shoes or a smelly bag when not in use. The tea bags will help absorb the musky scents while imparting some of their own -more pleasant-aroma.




 To clean your shower curtain remove from the rings and toss it in the washing machine. You can toss in a few extra things but want the load to be free to move, so don't over pack it. Add a small amount of laundry soap - about half normal amount. Run the machine on regular cycle with cool or warm water - no hot. Pull it out, hang it back up and you're good to go.I've found it's best to avoid the spin cycle at the end. Do not put in the dryer!
Bonus cleaning... toss things like your kitchen sponge, scrub brush, etc in the dish washer with a load or with regular loads of laundry. Those things get funky and sour smelling! A wash will kill the funk and extend the life of an item you might normally throw out.



With halloween coming up I figured people might like to know that Olive Oil will remove the most obnoxious of halloween face paint, spirit gums and glues. Use a mixture of olive oil and castor oil as a my general face "wash", and was delighted to find it was able to get off the most stubborn of sticky Halloween goop when I did "zipper face" for a zombie party recently. Slightly sensitive skin, and some of the removers that come in the package with spirit gum and other face adhesives are pretty noxious. It still requires some rubbing, and if you can let it sit for a little while to work on the glues then all the better. For makeup you simply massage it into the makeup and remove with a warm-hot wash cloth. Also works like a charm on eyelash glue and stubborn eye makeup.



Alternative to Head and Shoulders? Apple cider vinegar diluted at 1/3 cup/litre works well. Stink washes off, and you can use other perfume agents if you like.


Clean carpets with hot water and white vinegar. 1 1/2 cups vinegar per gallon water. Used a rug doctor machine and worked AMAZING.
White Vinegar and baking soda made into a paste gets stubborn carpet stains out when rubbed into them. Elbow grease is needed as well.
Shop vac your A/C filters in your home to not have to replace them as often. Those things are pricey


Here is an idea that preserves the nice ends that your laces come with, leave very little eyesore, and trim the laces to exactly the length that you want them.
The idea is to trim lace starting from the middle and then to tie them back together.
Here is what I would do:

1. Measure how much length that I want to trim off from the shoe.
2. Trim that amount starting from the center of your lace.
3. Thread each of the lace-halves back into the shoe.
4. Tie the two ends back together at their frayed ends.

If you do it nicely, the knot will lay at the very bottom end of the shoe leaving it perfectly symmetrical, and possibly pleasing in that quaint, interesting sort of way, although it will be quite subtle. This leaves the original lace ends preserved.

Farmers Market

We have gone to a few farmers markets. The first one in Alachua I bought a Confederated Jasmine which is doing great but the prices for the fruits and vegetables are pricey-priced comparable to Citarella.

High Springs farmers market I could ride my bike,but the tomatoes I bought a few weeks ago were tasteless and expensive.

Lake City is an half hour from the house. Divingabe went to Ginny with a guy from Australia and I had no pressing KD to finish so cranked the GPS and off the Lake City I went.
There were about seven booths and I really wanted fresh corn.
Bledsoe Family Farms had the corn, field tomatoes and cantaloupe and Michelle helped me pick out excellent cantaloupes.

Total for my fresh vegetables- 8 dollars

                                          Love tomato sandwiches on soft potato bread!

Glass Jars

Cool alternative to patio lights. All you have to do is gather a few mason jars, flick some glow-in-the-dark paint in the jars, and let them sit in the sun to charge during the day. By the time your dinner party rolls around you’ll have firefly lanterns. I think it would be cute to do this same thing with mini jars, and string them up somehow… hmmm. Flick the paint on the outside of the jar.You could always use a toothbrush to flick the paint inside.

saving leftover wine how to save wine

Simple homemade air freshner Link to it

Toilet Dam
Reusing glass jars in your toilet can save you money and help the environment. Jars can be used as toilet dams to save water. A toilet dam is a container that is filled with water and placed into the toilet tank. This takes up space in the toilet tank and the size of the toilet dam is the amount of water that you save each time you flush the toilet. Use the largest jar possible to get the most out of your new water saving device. You could save thousands of gallons of water each year by using a toilet dam in your toilets.

Dry excess fresh herbs in the oven and store them in recycled glass jars. Don't throw away citrus check out this link

Dry out stale bread and use blender to turn it into fine bread crumbs and add them to my large recycled jar for crumbs.

Recycled glass jars are candle holders. Recycle wax and dryer lint into fire starters, using a large recycled glass jar to collect and eventually melt my collected wax pieces.

I have heard of baking single serve cakes and pies in jars, haven't tried it.

Plastic jars as flower vases, plastic tableware holders, and condiment servers for barbeques. Various sized plastic jars hold all sorts of craft supplies, sewing accessories.

Baby food jars-votive candles

Empty peanut butter jars to make pancakes. I just pour in the mix, add some water, and shake. No bowl or spoon to clean, and it's easy to pour

Here's an idea but I wouldn't do this with plastic jars.Pour hot cocoa in peanut butter jars before you wash them. Shake well and now you have peanut butter hot cocoa.

Buy a bottle of the shower gel, a bag of sugar, and some sort of pretty glass container. Combine 2 cups of sugar with enough shower gel to cover it, and add about a tablespoon of water. Mix gently as you do this. It will "foam" a bit overnight, but the underlying product feels and performs exactly the same. An $8 bottle of body wash has filled up my container about three times now, and I'm only about half way through the bottle.

Old jars are great for packaging homemade bath salts. You can use them to package other gifts as well such as premixed cookie and cake recipes, bath oils, and hand scrubs.

From the NY Times who made that mason jar

I found more uses HERE

Stains be gone

Some ideas for natural,stain pre-treater/pre-soak for stains

 http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/12/homemade-shout-stain-remover.html
for homemade shout

Baking soda paste: mix baking soda with a small amount of water,apply to stain and let set for 5 minutes. You could also use dish soap on the stain also and let set for 5 minutes.

I read that Bac-out works well. I haven't used it so not sure but from what I saw on various post it it suppose to be pretty good.

Hydrogen peroxide for stains like blood and grass.

The old fashion Naptha bar soap works well also. Rub it in using a washing soda/borax combo.

Did you know

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little
"stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave
them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh
much longer and not mold!

Peppers  with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the
grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls
of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in
double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful
minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic
and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple
chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples.
Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the
apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

1. Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set
heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No
soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all
broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up
mixing thoroughl y, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.
Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

3. Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with
your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to
frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar
and calories per serving.

4. Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place
them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will
keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

5. Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet
newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with
mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening
plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

6. Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you
can't see easily.

7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

8. Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the
squirrels won't come near it.

9. Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an
empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be
bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

10. Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a
clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when
wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static
is gone.

11. Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot
water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your
ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right
out.

12. Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove
box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better
than a cloth!

13. Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include
something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an
hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

14. Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than
shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way
to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it
in your hair...

15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with
Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You
will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
"home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about
pets or small children being harmed!

17. INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things
around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and
he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean.
(I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He
told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to
the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh
material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.
well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through
it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh
that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's
there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and
static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy
when you take them out of the box, well t his stuff builds up on your
clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer
units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said
the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep
your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot
soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six
months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know
dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer & tested m y screen by running water on it. The
water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the
mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had
it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it the water ran right Thru
the screen! There wasn't any pudding at all! That repairman knew what he
was talking about!