~ If you are in the middle of a painting project and need to stop for the day, simply cover the tray, roller and brushes with a plastic bag and put into the freezer rather than cleaning everything. Bring the covered tray out about a half hour before you begin painting the next day to allow it to 'defrost'.

~ Make an easy and cute bird bath; turn over a heavy planter, then put the saucer on top as the water-holder. These can be painted decoratively or to match the colors of your home.

~ Make a frugal wreath; visit your local thrift store and you'll find a selection of used wreaths you can fix up by adding a bow and silk flowers (silk flowers and other wreath decorations can also be found at thrift stores!).

~ To add color to your houseplants, poke a couple silk flower stems into the soil.

~ To remove odors from anything, use straight vinegar. You can spray it on walls, furniture (test an inconspicuous area first) or other items. Don't worry about the vinegar odor because it dissipates along with the original odor.

~ One easy way to help improve your diet and save money at the same time is to stop buying junk food! If it's not there, you won't eat it!

~ If you'd like to save money and you eat out a lot, rather than stopping altogether, consider cutting back the number of times you eat out. For example,if you eat out twice a week, eat out only once. This isn't very hard to do,you still get to go out, and you'll save some money. Later on, you can cut back even more.

~ Sometimes you can save money by grinding your own hamburger. If hamburger is expensive, check out the chuck roast or steak prices; if they are a lot less (once the cheapest hamburger I could find was $1.69/lb, then I found round steak for .99/lb), get it instead. Then take it home, cut it into chunks that will fit in your food processor or meat grinder and make your own! Another benefit of doing this is that you know exactly what is in your ground beef!

copyright, 2003, Monica Resinger

About the Author: Monica Resinger publishes an e-mail newsletter Mon-Fri for homemakers that poses fun questions to readers about organizing, crafting, gardening, frugal living and other homemaking subjects; readers can respond to the questions and receive the resulting, very informative 'tip sheet'.If you'd like to join the fun, send a blank e-mail to:
HomemakersJournal-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
to subscribe.