Category: Frugal Living Tips

Today’s thrifty tip is to clean a microwave using vinegar. I pour half water and vinegar in a bowl which I then put inside the microwave. Turn it on long enough to bring to a boil. I usually do 2-3 minutes. It depends on how high and your microwave. The steam loosens food particles and deordorizes. This will be hot so be careful and just wipe clean. I do use the same mixture in the bowl. Then I pour the rest down the drain with the baking soda method I posted before.

I know I’ve posted before about how I give away some of the great deals I find to charity. But I came across a great blog called Coupon Cravings. She had this great giveaway about how much could you buy at CVS for just $5 for charity. I wanted to post about it earlier, but I was kinda busy so it ended before I could.

I think this is an awesome idea so it inspired me today. I already had plans to get the Pert Plus shampoo and Sure deodorant that is B1G1F this week. I bought 18 bottles of Pert Plus and 6 Sure and my grand total was a -.63! I had to buy a candy to get my total over 0, and it was a whopping 20 cents! I have NEVER done that well before. I normally have a $1 or right around a dollar total or higher. I was psyched! I promise I didn’t clear the shelves and left plenty for other shoppers so please no nasty comments. This was $85 worth of items before sale prices for FREE! I didn’t post this to brag, but to show that a lot of good can be done getting these great deals. If I gave the shelter $20 then that money wouldn’t go very far. Instead I can take that same $20 and buy $100 or more of items to give to them.

Today’s thrifty tip is use a Brillo pad to clean tarnished brass. I have a front door handle that was from 1949 and was pretty tarnished. We lived here for 11 years and never once cleaned it so it was overdue. We didn’t want to replace the door since it’s a solid door and original to this 54 year old house. We tried polishing it first but then the carpenter suggested a brillo pad. Darned if it didn’t work. I couldn’t believe how it just melted off the brass. I was so impressed and of course it did need some elbow grease around the corners. Once it was all cleaned and dried, then we used brass polisher. I wished I had taken before pics but here is an after picture. I also read on the box that it would work on silver.

I have a nice size walk-in closet with lots of shelves. I love having an older home since there is so much space in the house. I’m actually going to move my gift closet to the spare bedroom soon. I have a box filled with body wash, lotions, candles, shaving cream (usually the smaller travel size ones), razors, and so on. These are items I collect from sales and free items I get in the mail. I give out several gift bags filled with these items for Birthday and/or Christmas presents. I usually spend less than $50 for all these items in the box. I give out close to 10 bags per year which makes them around $5 each or sometimes a little more. But never more than $8 each. The recipients love them, and look forward to getting one each year.

I also buy toys that I find on clearance for those last minute invitations to a party. All of my nieces and nephew are too old for toys so I don’t buy as many as I once did. I give all my nieces the gift bags, and my nephew will now get either a DVD or a game for his system. I also like to buy really nice picture frames that I find on clearance for wedding presents. Now that I’m selling Tupperware, then I am giving more of it for presents. I can get sets much cheaper with my 25% discount. I might break up a big set of many items, and just give a few items to one person, and the rest to another.

Having the gift closet has been a really big money saver for us. Many times we get last minute invites for something. Instead of stressing about having to shop and spend money we might not have, then all I have to do is go shopping in my closet for the right gift. I also have a couple of gift cards if all else fails. I get these from several pay to click programs I do daily. It might seem like a lot of work but it’s really not. I shop all year long so I don’t have to spend a lot of money at once. I would suggest putting even $25 a month to the side to stock up on great sales when you find one. I spend less than $400 a year on gifts and that includes presents for ourselves.

Today’s thrifty tip is to use vinegar as a disinfectant for cleaning counters, the sink, and even your bathroom. I also use vinegar to mop my vinyl floors. It’s safer to use and much cheaper than chemical based cleaners. There are also no toxic fumes. I find the odor usually dissipates in an hour or two.