Money Saving Tips

My mother\'s day present gives my mom fresh produce all summer long. For the past several years, my mother\'s arms have been partially paralyzed. She lacks the strength to do any heavy lifting or sustained physical activity. Since she could no longer plant her own garden, I decided one year to do it for her as her Mother\'s Day gift.
I\'ve done it every year since. A few weeks before May 15, I spend a day preparing her garden, adding hummus and extra soil. On Mother\'s Day itself, we spend the day together in the garden while I plant and stake her tomatoes and herbs. Every summer, her tomatoes and fresh herbs are the staple of Eastern-European recipes handed down from my great- grandmother. This year, for the first time, I\'m bringing my own daughter to help plant grandma\'s Mother\'s Day garden. Randi F.
Time to Swim
When filling your pool for the summer, call your utility company and inform them prior to filling. If you happen to have sewer service with them, they would have automatically billed you for \"water that went down the drain\" when in fact you kept it in your pool. Walter in Tennessee
Mix and Match Cereals
Do your kids like the cereals that come with fruit in them? Even though they are expensive, the kids can have them often. To make the more expensive cereal go farther, I mix one box of store brand corn flakes or cheerios and one box of the more expensive cereal. My kids eat it and really like it. Lee S.
Clothes for Less!
I have a good tip for saving on the cost of clothes for young kids. You can get name brand clothes for less by buying online instead of in the store. When you go to the website for one of the big name brand chains, discipline yourself to only buy from the sale section of the website. Most companies will even waive the shipping charge if you buy a certain minimum dollar amount of merchandise.
By buying online, you can usually get better selection especially for sizes, save yourself the expense of traveling to the stores, and also avoid those impulse buys to boot! And, best yet, once you\'ve bought from an online store, they will usually begin sending you coupons by email. This year, I bought my son\'s entire summer wardrobe from Gymboree for less than $110! That\'s as good as or better than buying secondhand, and it\'s all brand new. My friends all complain about the amount of money that they spend at the mall each year. If only they knew! Jenna E.
Save on Postage
When you\'re buying stamps, don\'t just buy a book of 37-cent stamps. Invest in some 23-cent stamps, also. A postcard costs 23 cents. And, when a letter is over one ounce, each additional ounce is only 23 cents. So many people just throw on two 37-cent stamps, because they don\'t have the 23-cent stamps available! Linda B. Postal Worker
She Likes CDs
I especially like using CDs for a little \"quick\" cash growth. Whenever I go into the bank, I\'ll quickly look over the current rates that are posted overhead. The 30-, 60- and 90- day CDs won\'t gain much, maybe one percent, but if you know you won\'t need that tax refund money until your vacation in August, why not let it make a little more for you while it\'s in the bank? At the end of the CD period, turn around and drop the interest you earned into your 401K or money market account, where the beauty of long-term compounding will net you enormous growth over the long haul! Painlessly earned income you never miss. I\'ve also used CDs as collateral on small loans that I know I can pay in full. At times, my $5,000 CD (which is invested for three to five years at a time) has backed up a small vehicle loan, thus sparing me the cost of full coverage insurance on the vehicle that is normally the collateral during the loan period. CDs are a wonderful tool when used to every advantage.
Easier Ironing
Iron clothes as they come out of the washer, and then hang on a hanger to dry. This not only saves money by not drying, but also it doesn\'t require water in the iron or starch on the clothes. They come out crisp and beautiful. It\'s easier on me because I used to let the clothes pile up until it took me a whole day to do the ironing. Missy in Louisiana
Drawer Organizers
I save boxes to use as drawer organizers. Sure, I could go to Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree and buy plastic boxes, but the ones I collect from gifts, check orders, and even shoes are free. There\'s not a drawer in my house that holds \"stuff\" that doesn\'t have at least one box in it. Sharon of Virginia
A \'New\' Mobile Home
After over 25 years in a 1973 doublewide mobile home, I was so sick of paneling that I could have screamed! I painted the dining room and living room a pale creamy yellow, and it is amazing how that little thing totally changed the feel of the house. It feels bigger and certainly less depressing. One thing I should have done differently was to use semi-gloss instead of the flat that I did. Semi-glass paint wipes down better and reflects a little more light.
My next project is to paint the main bedroom paneling a butterscotch color and add a yellow rose border. Then I want to add wainscoting to the hallway walls and paint it to match the living room. On the wall above the wainscoting, I want to hang family pictures. I wish I had gotten the paintbrushes out sooner. It is so much more cheerier and more welcoming than it used to be. A.
A Sporting Proposition
My husband and I enjoy going to local sporting events, but the cost can be prohibitive. So, in order to make it worthwhile, I check the promotions before we pick what game to attend. We were given quality golf umbrellas at a local baseball game, and the tickets were only $5 each. So we both got to see the baseball game and got two golf umbrellas for $10.
The best deal by far has been the local AHL hockey games. They are affiliated with a local amusement park. Two times per year they give away free tickets to the amusement park with the purchase of a hockey ticket. We paid $20 for decent seats at the hockey game and each of us got a free park pass ($40 value). We each received $60 worth of entertainment for $20! Check your local sporting events for promotions. You could be missing some great entertainment bargains! Shannon
Cheapest Online?
We recently went on a three-day trip to Iowa. I looked on the Internet to find \"cheap\" hotels. The cheapest I could find in Ft. Dodge was $65 per night. We decided to drive to Ft. Dodge and look for a hotel when we got there. We found a Budget Host Inn for $49 per night. When I mentioned to the man at the counter the difference in price, he said that all those Internet sites charge 20% to have your hotel listed on their website. Of course, these costs are passed on to the consumer.
If you know there won\'t be a convention or something in the town where you are staying, wait until you get there to find a hotel. The hotel we stayed at in Decorah, IA was having a one night special. The special included a $49 per double room, free pizza and pop at the pool (which we used for lunch the next day), and free breakfast. We didn\'t stop at the first town we were going to because they wanted $77.50 per night. By driving for another 1/2 hour to another little town, we saved a lot and were closer to home. Dawn
Washable Wedding Gowns?
Most people don\'t realize you can machine wash wedding gowns, even with big trains and beading. Most wedding gowns are made out of polyester. Check the tag. Even gowns costing over $1000 may look like silk, but in most cases, they are not.
Turn the gown inside out and wash on cold with regular detergent. After washing shake them out and hang to dry. Press with a cool iron. They will come out great! I worked in the business and we did this on soiled gowns many times. I also did this for my daughter\'s gown that had lots of beading and a really long train. Melinda in FL
Finding Furniture Deals
I have found good deals on furniture by finding a local furniture store that operates in a low-cost building, but carries name brand, upscale furniture. Due to their setup, they don\'t display as much as some other stores, but they have many, many catalogs. If you pick something from the catalog, their prices are even better (about 1/2 of typical retail stores). T.
Gary Foreman is a former financial planner and the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com website. If you\'d like more time or money, visit http://www.thedollarstretcher.com/ to find hundreds of ways to stretch your day and your dollar!

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