I'm a Beginner Tightwad

THE COMPLETE TIGHTWAD GAZETTE

BY AMY DACYCZYN

This 3 inch thick book (I'm not exagerating) is full of wonderful ideas on how to save money, reuse, reduce and recycle.  I have read it from front to back and want to share a few idea with you.

My all time favorite so far that I have tried and will continue to use is her stain remover for clothes.

Stain Recipe

1 cup Clorox II powdered laundry detergent

1 cup Cascade dishwasing detergent - powdered.

5 gallons of hot water

Mix and add clothes and soak overnight.

Excellent on food stains.

Launder as usual after the soak.

I was picking things to buy from a friend and she going to throw out a dress that was badly stained.  I told her about the recipe and asked to take the dress, it would become my test item for the Stain recipe.  She told me that her mother could get out almost everything, but had no luck with this stain.  Well folks I tried it and half of the stain came out.  I was encouraged, and when a few days later I did another batch of stained items I tried the little dress again and guess what? It all came out.  I wish I had taken pictures.  It was amazing!

She also recommended using full strength Breck shampoo as a stain remover.  It is suupose to remove blood/grass and grease.  This I haven't tried yet, because Meijer doesn't carry Breck and I'll have to go somewhere else to find it.

Other great ideas:

Save your cosmetic/compact brushes for your kids to use for paint brushes.  Have relatives save for you; spring cleaning time is a great time to mention this to them.

Highliter pens can be reused - remove the end plug and add water or water/food coloring.

Budget bubbles -  I like this idea because it calls for corn syrup instead of glycerin.  This recipe costs 18 cents per cup.

6 parts water

2 parts Joy dishwashing liquid

3/4 part corn syrup. 

Do you hate cooking beans for hours - Then try this method. Soak your beans overnight and then drain.  Freeze the beans in amounts you'll need for your favorite recipes.  When you cook them they will soften in about 20 minutes, because the water in the beans expands when frozen and breaks the celluloste strands that holds the cells together.  This is the same prinicple that occurs when you cook beans for hours.  And using dried beans will save on your grocery bill.

I thought this idea was really cool.  When  you do your spring cleaning use this little saying to remind you what to do with your mattress.  Spin in the Spring and Flip in the Fall.

Here's another tip I plan on trying.   One lady wrote in that she uses this method to increase her chances of winning prize drawings.  She swears it helps.  She folds her tickets several times in interesting ways to make them more susceptible to being drawn.  Her list of winnings was impressive.  I figure it can't hurt to try.

Does your family like the instant oatmeal for the convenience?  One woman solved that problem this way.

She mixed a large container with 5 parts oatmeal and 1 part brown sugar ( you can adjust this to your liking later) and then added cinnamon.  At night before she went to bed she mixed a bowl of oatmeal and milk.  You can add in extras if you like - nuts, raisons etc.  In the morning all you have to do is cook the oatmeal for 90 seconds.  Viola! you have: better nutrition, the convenience and you save money.  It's a winner.

I have more ideas I'll share in another post.  But if you can get your hands on her book all the better, because I'm sure diferent people pick up on different ideas that will help them be more frugal and green.

Join the tightwads!  Let's be frugal and save the environment.