TIPical Mary Ellen host Mary Ellen Pinkham provides tips to help everyone saves a little bit of money in their budget.
- Save all those free toys from fast-food stops to use as party favors for a child's birthday.
- When making new purchases, consider your future needs. It is often less expensive to buy things in a set than one at a time. For instance, kitchen utensils or tool sets are typically more cost effective in kits.
- When purchasing appliances, consider refurbished appliance stores. These items are completely overhauled and are much less expensive than new--if you don't mind a few dents or scratches.
- Don't spend money on an official mileage log. Instead, just take an old unused check register, and convert the columns into Mileage, Gas and Repairs columns.
- Instead of buying a new collar for your dog, recycle an old belt one. Cut to size, and punch new holes as needed.
- Instead of buying metal laundry traps, use knee-high nylons attached to the hose with a clamp or a plastic clamp strip. Make sure it is cut short enough so that you don't clog the drain.
- Save the cotton wads that are stuffed in new pill bottles to remove nail polish.
- Make inexpensive dishwashing liquid more effective by adding a squirt of vinegar to cut the grease.
- Eliminate crushed bows when mailing gifts by decorating with a recycled greeting card. Cut off the cover and use a glue stick to adhere it to the top of the package.
- Recycle ribbon by ironing out the wrinkles and reusing them.
- When taking a driving vacation, save money by calling the Office of Tourism of the states you will be visiting. They usually have toll-free numbers and can be found in travel magazines at the library. They will send you any information you are looking for, and it usually includes a map.
- Refill an automatic toilet-bowl cleaner dispenser (after rinsing thoroughly) with household bleach (5 percent), and return it to the toilet tank.
- The next time your dog needs medication, unless it is a pet-only medication, ask your vet to write a prescription for it, then take it to your regular pharmacy. The pharmacy prices are usually half as much as the vet's prices. Make sure it is a dosage that can be bought at a pharmacy, though. For instance, 50 milligrams of amoxicillin cannot be bought at a pharmacy, but 250 milligrams can.
- Join a warehouse club with a friend or neighbor. The initial membership is usually only around $24 to $30 dollars, and secondary users are less. If you divide the cost and purchase items in bulk, you can save quite a bit.
