photo by lucy
The first tip is a great frugal idea. Some people use dryer sheets, mesh onion bags, a loofah or a balled-up piece of aluminum foil to scrub pots and pans. Add tulle to the list.

POT SCRUBBER: My grandma gave me a mixer, and stuffed in the bowl was a piece of tulle. She told me that she uses it to wash pans. Sure enough, when I tried it, it worked great. Just ball it up, scrub away, and gunk comes off easily. The nice thing is that tulle is inexpensive, and you don’t have to worry about having a germy scrubbie laying around. If the tulle gets too icky, toss it and use a new section. — Blitzen, Ohio

HEDGE APPLES: They’re good for repelling spiders as they dry out and begin to rot. They should be replaced once a year. They seep a brown sticky substance, so it’s best to place them on a dish and up high where spiders lurk. I had some all over the basement in those foil potpie pans. Didn’t have a lot of spiders that year. — Handymom, Michigan

MAKESHIFT SOAP DISH: The plastic razor-blade covers that contain 10 disposable razor blades when empty make great bar-soap dishes. I never have enough of the soap dishes that drain (I don’t like the plate types), and I “discovered” this by accident. Silly and simple, but it works. — Shoshana, e-mail

WASH MUSHROOMS: Add 4 tablespoons of flour to a medium-size bowl of cold water. Wash mushrooms in the flour water. The dirt adheres to the flour particles. The mushrooms come out clean, and there’s no scrubbing. — anonymous, e-mail

TIME MANAGEMENT: Make doctor appointments for the first appointment in the morning so you don’t have to wait for someone ahead of you. — Bee, Canada

KEEP BROWN SUGAR SOFT: I keep mine in the freezer. I take it out about 20 minutes before I need it, and it’s perfect. It defrosts pretty quickly. — Jessica, New York

MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS: Get out and meet your neighbors. If you are shy about it, start off with smile, then graduate to a friendly wave and hello. As a newcomer to an area, some of my closest frugal allies have been folks in my neighborhood. They showed me where to find the best deals, passed on coupons, shared food from their gardens, etc. And they reminded me that, for the most part, there are still some sincerely good people left in the world. — Anna, Alabama

HIGHER EDUCATION: Get a job where they will pay for higher education, and take advantage of it. — Rainey D., Ohio

RENEW CLOTHES: To make clothes last longer, re-dye them with RIT dyes. I did a load of black clothes one year in the washing machine (jeans, turtlenecks, shirts, etc.), and they came out great! — Jean, Canada

How do you make your clothes last longer?

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