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Fun (Cheap) Birthday Gift Ideas for Kids Several months ago, I got a message from Elaine G., who recently had joined a moms group. With all of her newly minted friendships, she and her little one are getting invitations to lots of toddlers' birthday parties. Her dilemma took me back to …Read more. What You Need To Know if Your Bank Fails If it seems that more banks are closing this year than normal, you are absolutely right. Since January 2009, 106 banks and 19 credit unions have failed in the U.S. That's more than four times the number of closings in 2008. It's the most since the …Read more. Make Your Own Sanitizing Wipes Dear Mary: I would like to find a recipe to make hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. Do you know of one? — Delores, e-mail Dear Delores: I have been thinking about the same thing, now that we're learning that products like Purell are …Read more. 7 Simple Ways To Stretch Food Further Buying groceries on sale and cooking meals at home are excellent ways to keep the cost of food under control, but there are other things we can do. Here, for your enjoyment, are simple ways other "Everyday Cheapskate" readers make food and …Read more.
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Hurricane Glow Sticks and Other Great Reader Tips

With Halloween just passed, waste no time looking through half-price bins filled with decorations, masks and other Halloween paraphernalia at a store near you! That's what one clever reader suggests. Today's first great tip may surprise you. It did me!

LANTERN LEFTOVERS. When Hurricane Ike passed through, I pulled out my "storm box," and inside I found several Halloween glow sticks that were at least 3 years old. To my great surprise, they made perfect "nightlights" throughout the house during the many days without power. The package said they last up to 12 hours, and they did, even though they were several years old. These glow sticks are especially handy for small children who need to carry around their own lights. I took advantage of the Halloween season this year and restocked my storm box. -- Liane F., e-mail

FLOUR SHAKER. Anytime I have a bag of flour that is almost empty, rather than store it, I transfer the remaining flour into an empty Parmesan cheese shaker for when only a small amount is needed. The lid opens on one side to allow for shaking out the flour, which works great for dusting cake pans. The other side of the lid has a wide opening with a flat side to quickly and easily measure out a level tablespoon to use as a thickener for soups and stews. -- Jennifer, e-mail

HOMEMADE WINDEX. Thanks for your tips on using Windex to clean.

I find that a much cheaper but similar mixture can be made at home for only pennies. Cleaners such as Windex rely upon three common ingredients: distilled water, vinegar and ammonia. No matter what other additives a commercial product may add, the real cleaning is done by combining 10 to 20 parts water, one part vinegar and a scant amount of ammonia. Try starting with a mixture at 20 parts distilled water. If you need it stronger, you can add more vinegar and ammonia. Be cautious when handling and storing ammonia. Be sure to label the contents clearly as containing ammonia, and then store it out of the reach of children. -- Allen, California

PAINT JUGS. I've found that milk jugs make excellent paint containers for partially used gallons of house paint. I never have had one go bad; you can see the color right through the jug; and the contents are easy to pour when needed. Unlike paint cans, I never have had a milk jug lid get stuck, no matter how much paint is trapped in the grooves around the rim. I write on the outside of the jug with a permanent marker the manufacturer, the name of the color and type of finish -- satin, gloss or flat. -- Kellie, California

Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. Mary Hunt is the founder of DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living" and "Tiptionary 2." To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.


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