If you open a window at each end of the house and place a window box fan backwards in one of the windows so that it blows outside of the house, it pulls the air through the house (especially in the early morning hours) and cools your home.
M.

Be wary of renewal notices! I used to receive several renewal notices for a magazine subscription. They were months apart and I didn’t notice so I paid them. Finally, after receiving a notice close to a recent renewal (which I paid for!), I checked my subscription. I was paid up through 2012! So check your renewals with your subscription departments. You may not need to renew.
Bill in Rockford, MI

Our community has a pool, and if you have a little one, the cost of swim diapers quickly escalates a “free” trip to the pool. Last summer, I started washing and re-using our swim diapers. Generally, they are just wet when we get home so I just rinse them in the sink with a little soap and water and hang to dry with the swimsuit. If the diaper was more than wet, I disposed of it. I don’t think I bought more than one package of swim diapers for the whole season.
Marquita H.

You can easily make your own 100-calorie packs. I used a calorie book and nutrition information to make a list of the size of various servings of my favorite snacks and the calorie counts. I posted it in my pantry and use it as inspiration to keep my low calorie snack basket full. I keep hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit and clean yogurt containers with pretzels, carrot or celery sticks in a small basket in my fridge. I replenish it every few days. It makes finding a healthy snack easy and even makes finding filler for lunches a breeze.
Kimberly M. in Alta Loma, CA

The best facial to remove oil is one egg yolk and a teaspoon of mayonnaise. I know it sounds funny, but it makes your skin feel so soft and look new. Just rub it on, wait thirty minutes, and then remove with warm water.
KI

A lit match will take away bathroom odor. Strike a match (I use the wooden kitchen kind for easy handling) and the odor disappears. This is much better for us than the air sprays and much cheaper, too. I sometimes light the match and then light a candle, but the match alone eliminates the odor.

Also, after cutting onions, if you run your fingers over the knife under running water, the onion odor disappears.

I don’t know the scientific reason for either of these but I have a very sensitive nose and these both work great.
Pat in St. Louis, MO

I’m an avid gardener and go through a lot of potting soil to plant my container gardens. It can end up costing a lot of money to plant those flowers! Thankfully, I discovered that our local business that sells landscaping products sells dirt, pea gravel, bark, and an assortment of different soils by the bucket full. You just take your bucket and fill it yourself. This is so much cheaper than buying it by the bag.
HW

If you’ve seen the new bladeless cream hair removers and thought about giving them a try, try this trick instead. Buy the generic or cheapest brand of cream hair remover, and instead of using a washcloth (very messy!) to remove the product, use one of those fake credit cards that keep showing up in the mail. This works just as well as the expensive, premium product for about half the cost. For soothing softness, smooth on a light film of Vaseline or baby oil afterwards. No need for expensive specialty products to soften your legs, since Vaseline works just as well or better for just pennies.
Victoria in Watertown, NY

My mom is currently sharing her home with my sister and me in New York City. My mother is retired and has very limited income. She has to supplement her retirement income by working for minimum wage for a few hours per day.

Even though my sister and I are grown, there are advantages we all enjoy such as being able to contribute to the mortgage according to our income and sharing expenses which enables us to keep our housing cost to approximately 30% and lower. My single mom gets to enjoy her family and not being left alone and we get to save more.

I would recommend kids sharing a home with their parent(s), providing they act responsible in every way and respect their parents while living there. This advice is especially good for expensive cities, such as New York City.
Abigail

When you chop up those almost done vegetables to put in the freezer, measure them into 1/4, 1/2, 1 cup portions in little sandwich bags and put these bags into a larger bag. This works great!
Leah D.

I save a ton of money, time and energy at my office job by creating a work uniform for myself. I purchased five black slacks (the heavy-duty kind for construction workers as they stay pressed-looking after days of wear in an office) and ten polo shirts of different colors. I simply wash and wear. Before this, I used to get up early and try to coordinate slacks, blouses, belts and shoes. Lately, I realized that I just need to be clean, pressed and presentable. Every piece in my new work outfit is always perfectly interchangeable, and with the differently colored polo shirts, I never get bored with what I’m wearing. Now if I spend time or money on clothes, it’s to wear for a night on the town where it really counts to look my best!
MM

When opening up a new box of cleaning powder (Ajax, etc.), leave half of the holes covered with the opening sticky paper. This way, you only use half the amount of powder to clean. I have found this to be enough to get the job done.
M.

We were planing a trip to Orlando to go to Disney World. One of the biggest savers on our trip was getting on a national entertainment book website and ordering an Orlando coupon book. Most people only order these for their own hometowns.

By ordering one for the place you plan to visit, you will find all kinds of “buy one get one free” coupons for places to eat and things to do, as well as places to visit. Because these are “hometown” places, you can go where the locals eat instead of the tourist places that you would normally go to. You’ll pay so much less, and by using your coupons, you’ll save even more!

The book saved us a lot of money and we had a great time going to “off the beaten path” places instead of the crowed places most tourists attend!
Karen M. in Fairhope, AL

Two years ago when my high school son graduated, I bought all the party supplies that I needed. I hadn’t planned ahead and bought at full price. What was I thinking??? I spent a small fortune. Do you have someone graduating next year? Be smart, buy the party items, plates, napkins, cups, picture frames and other fun stuff this year. Watch for clearance items at the end of this month. Just don’t buy anything with the year on it. Party supply stores have lots of choices, and lots of items. No need to pay full price. For the stuff with the year on it, just wait until right after next New Year’s!
Tammy A.

I have found a cheap and fun way to wrap gifts without buying expensive bows. After wrapping the gift in colorful wrapping paper and using thin curling ribbon to tie the gift in the traditional crisscross manner I use a bag of candy such as skittles or M&M;’s at the bow by the taking thin ribbon and tying the candy in the middle and curling the excess ribbon. The bag candy tied in the middle had the shape of a bow tie and the ribbon curls around it make it look festive. Kids are much happier with this than a bow they throw out and it is much cheaper.
Linda C.

One of my favorite picnic food items is corn on the cob, but it is such a hassle to spread butter on it. We’ve found that if you heat up water in a large metal can (old coffee can or large pork and beans can) and then melt butter in it, the butter stays on the top. When your corn is done, all you have to do is dip it in the butter/water and pull it out. It comes out nicely buttered with no mess or hassle.
Cindy M. in North Pole, Alaska

My family recently decided to go on vacation. I found that if I looked up the rates from the hotels directly, I saved about $10 per room per night. But that is not my tip. My tip is to call your chosen hotels 1-800 number to make the reservation. Of the three I called, all three of them offered me freebies to book with them. The one I chose sent me $40 off for gas! And my children got to stay for free!
Devery J. in Houston, TX

While weeding my garden from unwanted plants, I wondered if someone else would like some of my surplus plants. I had extra spearmint, garlic and chives. I put them in some peat pots, took them to a flea market, and sold them for $1.00 each. The money came in handy, and the buyers found plants that were less expensive plants than they could buy elsewhere.
Wilma

Everyone has Easter baskets or other baskets to store. Instead of stacking bulky baskets and taking up a lot of space in a closet for storage, I hang mine from cup hooks inserted into a closet ceiling. This keeps them out of the way until I need them, and uses a usually unusable space.
Kris W.

We live in Florida and try to avoid heating the kitchen in the summer. Cooking on a grill can sure help. Our children love grilled teriyaki salmon, BBQ chicken breasts and drumsticks, turkey legs, and London Broil (great for a crowd), corn in the husks, and foil packet dinners.

We often use a wood plank (cedar/alder), which keeps the meat moist, adds flavor and helps keep your meat from getting overdone while you’re busy playing with the kids or puttering about the backyard.

Foil packets are great for vegetables (carrots, potatoes, peppers, onions) and fruits (pineapple, mango, apples) with your meat. Everything turns out tender and steamed to perfection. Again, like the plank cooking, you don’t have to worry as much about flare-ups and burning your grilled items.
Michelle