Be frugal to the core
photo by timlewisnm
The first tip is a good way to waste less apples. To prevent browning, soak the cores in saltwater. Use about 1 tablespoon of salt per half gallon of water. Then freeze in an airtight container or a freezer bag.
FRUGAL APPLESAUCE: A couple of months ago, I got annoyed at the extra fruit left over on the core when I cut up apples for the kids or for use in recipes. So I started tossing the cores in a container in the freezer and making applesauce when I had enough. I need about 20 cores for a cup of applesauce. Also nice to use in recipes in place of some of the oil. — Constance, New Jersey
NO-TANGLE YARN: Take a wide straw, insert yarn in one end, and “suck” the yarn through to the other end of the straw. Pull until you have a 12-inch “tail.” Go back to the reverse end, and begin winding the skein of yarn around the end of the straw, turning the straw frequently and slowly forming a tight ball of yarn. When the skein is completely wound, use a crochet hook to pull the last bit of yarn under the wound yarn. Pull out the straw, and the yarn will feed untangled from the middle of the ball you have just made. The yarn can then be placed into individual zipper bags for storage, as well as keeping the yarn clean. When ready to knit or crochet, just unzip a small opening, feed the yarn through the opening, and it will be ready to use. This also keeps the yarn from becoming entangled with other colors in a handwork bag. You can even place the zip bag on the floor if you prefer to work with the yarn at your feet. An added advantage is that the wound balls require much
less space to store than the original skeins. — D. Merrell, North Carolina
DISHWASHER SOAP:
1 cup salt
2 cups baking soda
2 cups borax
2 cups orange Tang
Mix all together, and store in an airtight jar. Use 1 tablespoon in each compartment, and wash normally. If you have hard water, you might want to increase the amount to 2 to 3 tablespoons and add white vinegar to the rinse compartment. I use generic Tang, and it works just as well. I buy my salt, baking soda and the orange mix at Aldi for less than $2.25. –Tina, Illinois
LIGHTING: There are solar-powered LED “Christmas” lights that work great on a deck or patio. The twinkle lights don’t attract moths and other bugs. We’ve purchased LED light bulbs to save electricity. They use even less electricity than compact florescent bulbs, and these bulbs would be a good choice anywhere you chance a CF bulb breaking, like a lamp or in a child’s room.
Instead of turning on the light or stumbling in the dark, we installed a large motion-activated night light that stays on for 90 seconds, which is more than enough time without having to turn the ceiling light on. Switching CF lights on and off for brief use will shorten their life.
A few years ago, we had an ice storm and we were without electricity for a prolonged period of time. We would bring in the pathway lights each day to light several rooms of the house. — Karen, Kansas
Posted by Sara Noel
on August 8 2009. Filed under Frugal Tips.Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook
We live in a hot climate (Qld Australia) and used to use a lot of power having our air conditioner on during the summer. I recently changed over to an evapporative cooler which is much more cost effective and works especially well in dry climates.
I enjoy your blog, lots of good ideas!
1Great tips for being frugal. I too like to make good use of our leftover fruit from the trees in our yard. I was surprised by the Tang in dishwashing soap! Good frugal living tips!
2It’s the citric acid that works, so if you don’t have Tang, use citric acid. You can find it where canning supplies are located in stores.
3Just a note about the borax in the dishwasher soap. For long term use, it is not recommended to use borax on things like dishes as a build up can occur and consuming borax can cause illness.
4Thanks!
Mule team borax isn’t any more toxic than most store bought dishwasher soaps that also build up over time.
http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/about
20 Mule Team® Borax is comprised of 99.5% pure borax, a naturally occurring mineral composed of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water. (The scientific name for borax is sodium tetraborate decahydrate.) The remaining 0.5% is composed of trace minerals.
5I wanted to add that I don’t want to seem as if I disagree with what you’re saying. I just wanted to point out that many cleaners are not safe to ingest.
Here’s more info.
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=chem&id=10
As with many cleaners, Borax needs to be kept out of reach from children.
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