Rock Bottom Frugal Living Tip #30

Household Hints & Tips

DID YOU KNOW?

Bananas

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.

Cheese

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

Peppers

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.

Cooking Stovetop Ground Beef

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

Scramble Eggs

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

Great Brownies

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt chocolate mint patties in double broiler [better yet, the microwave] and pour over warm brownies. Let it set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Garlic

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

Snickers Bars

Leftover from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply 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. Yummy!

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.

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 thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

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.

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.

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 [This works well. I've used this for years, and newspapers are easy on the soil].

Broken Glass

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

No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

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.

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.

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..... static is gone. [How it works: think "grounding"]

Measuring Cups [this is a repeat from another of my tips- Bev]

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.

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!

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.

Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's 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.

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! [My adopted grandma used this all the time and it worked]

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 and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed! [And it's cheaper than ant killers!]

Laundry

Wash in cold water whenever possible. Laundry detergents today work just as well in cold or hot. Running the water heater less saves quite a few pennies.

Change brands of your detergent frequently. Why? It can build up in your clothes and cause them to dull. A different detergent will wash out the last one.

Save up to 50% per month on dryer cloths by cutting them into half, when they don't work in the dryer anymore use them as dust cloths around the house, and then throw them away [or put them into your sock drawer to use as a deodorant/perfume and anti-static cling].

If you have a swiffer sweeper, used dryer cloths can be put on it, to dust the floors through out the house.

Be sure to check your filter on the dryer, by using dryer sheets constantly, it causes a build up on the mesh and air can't circulate properly. This can be potentially dangerous and could cause a house fire. It can be cleaned off with dish detergent and water.  [Again, this is another repeat from an earlier post, but needs to be emphasized often!]

Towels getting worn out?

Cut them down to size, hem them and use them as wash cloths. If you own a serger, this is really quick and easy.

Window Cleaners

If you already did your shopping and forgot to add it to your list. Make your own. A little water and some white vinegar will do the trick; after all, you still have the spray bottle.

To clean those mirrors and windows through the house, use your newspaper, works wonders and a lot cheaper than paper towels.

Source:  http://www.yesall4free.com/FreeStuff-Hints.html