photo by manel

In a previous column, I mentioned using up an abundance of oranges. The tips started pouring in for ways to use orange peels. The first tip is a natural way to keep mischievous felines away. It can work outdoors in the garden, too.

DETER CATS: Cats hate the smell of citrus. I’ve put dried peels in a sachet and tucked them under the corner of my husband’s armchair to keep them from scratching it. It seems to work. My husband has an orange every morning for breakfast, so the sachet is frequently changed. — Margaret L., forums

EASY-SLIDE SOUP: I’ve been living on a lot of canned soup lately. Not so much because of frugality, since it is not cheap anymore, but because I had some teeth pulled. I noticed it is a lot easier to clean out the soup can, especially with cream soups, if I give the can a rough shaking before opening it. — Tom G., e-mail

EZ COMB CLONE: There’s a product out there on television called the EZ Comb. It looks pretty good. But a) I don’t buy things off television and b) $10 for three hair thingies! You’ve got to be kidding! So here’s the EZ Fake fix: Take a sturdy set of hair combs. (Check the dollar store if you don’t have a set.) Hook one end of a craft elastic cord (make a loop like a rubber band) around the top two “teeth” on the first comb (slide beads on if you want to) and then hook the other end of that cord around the bottom two “teeth” of the second comb. Now do the mirror image from the top of the second comb to the bottom of the first comb. So you have four cord loops crossing and attached on a diagonal. Hook the first comb into hair, stretch the second comb across, and secure. — Vail, Washington

DRY FOOD STORAGE: To keep flour, rice, sugar, etc., nice and dry, throw a couple silica desiccant packets in with the stuff you’d like to stay moisture-free. I live in a really moist climate and have trouble keeping sugar unhardened, even in a container. I got one of those desiccant packets in a box of tea. Threw it in with the sugar, and voila! Dry sugar. — Vail, Washington
Note from Sara: While they’re not free, you can use oxygen absorbers, rice, a piece of a clay pot, a small section of wood or dried beans, too. I suggest that if you’re using desiccants, that you place them in a small plastic container and wrap that in a paper towel or coffee filter, so there’s a barrier and doesn’t touch or leak into your food. The packets can be dried in the oven and reused, too.

REUSE WINDOW FILM: We lived in Minnesota for 25 years. When the 3M window film came, we used it on all our windows. If taken off carefully, it can be used again. We got three to four years out of a package. You can buy just the tape. We kept the window film is a cool, dry place until it was needed again. — Anonymous, e-mail

SAVINGS GAME: A great way to save money is to save dollar bills daily. I am a bartender, and every night I stash my ones. At the end of the week, I am amazed at the amount. — Christine N., e-mail

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