Tag: Green Living

TMR Frugal Living Tip #62

Today’s thrifty living tip is reuse your newspapers before throwing into a recycling bin. There are many ways to reuse your daily newspaper, but I’ll highlight a few of the more popular ideas. None of these ideas are meant for the colorful glossy ads.

Make packaging material by shredding them. This is easier if you already have a paper shredder.

Use it in the garden as a way to stop weeds. Again only use the black and white sections. Open the papers and lay them flat on the row or area you want to use them and wet them down with the garden hose.

Use shredded paper in the compost pile. You don’t need a lot but it makes a great addition.

Use sections of the paper to wipe glass or windows. It doesn’t leave any streaks but you will have to wash your hands afterwards.

You can use the Sunday comics as gift wrapping paper.

Of course old paper can make great hats for kids. There are several great sites that will show you how to do this on the internet.

We use old paper when we have crawfish or any kind of seafood boil. My inlaws just chunk the paper along with the peelings into a hole. It breaks down so it doesn’t go in the trash. Of course he does this in the cane fields that he owns. This idea might not be viable for just anyone.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #57

Today’s thrifty living tip is use a pumice stone to clean hard water stains. This works really well with porcelain sinks, toilets, and even tubs. You can buy them at Lowes or any hardware store. We have an older toilet plus hard water. So deposits will build up over time, and it’s the original toilet to our 50 year old house. You do have to apply some elbow grease and it took out all the old stains. The inside looks brand new again. They are relatively cheap and I think I paid under $4 with tax. It’s a lot cheaper than most chemicals and it’s not toxic. I would recommend putting on a pair of latex gloves first.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #35

Today’s thrifty living tip is extend the life of your shower curtains. I wash mine in the washing machine on a short cycle with vinegar and hot water. I also throw in a towel to help weight it down. The curtain comes out clean and it’s easier than scrubbing it by hand. I have been able to keep a curtain for at least 2-3 years. These are the cheap vinyl ones. I do eventually throw them away once they start ripping or starts looking like swiss cheese.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #16

Today’s thrifty tip is if you get sugar ants then spray a mixture of vinegar and water. You mix half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle and shake. Then just clean the surface as you normally would and just spray the infested area. Don’t wipe it but let it dry on it’s own. It takes a day or two but it works for me.