Recipe Box- Recipe? #6

IDEAS FOR PENNY PINCHERS

Good day to you my faithful recipe box readers!  The next item in the recipe box was, again, not a recipe but an adorable article about pinching pennies.  

The motto of the article is "use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without".

These are tips for stretching pennies in our every day lives which, I don't know about you all, I know I need do be doing more of!

Use it Up:  Author recommends melting leftover bar soap by heating it in a microwave oven.  Place soap pieces on wax paper and heat until soft; remove and gently shape into one large piece of soap.  It will harden quickly.  Or, you can make liquid hand soap by putting leftover pieces of bar soap in a jar with a small amount of water.

Wear it Out:  If you have items that you can't wear because of spots and stains, the author recommends the following tips.  For ballpoint pen ink, apply a generous amount of hair spray then rub gently with a clean, dry cloth.  Remove grease on double knit by applying club soda the spot.  To eliminate white hem lines on old blue jeans, mix permanent blue ink with water and apply to the jeans with a small brush.  (I'm not sure what she is referring to when mentioning white hem lines? hmmm...)  I just googled it and this is referring to lengthening blue jeans (which I don't believe I've ever done).  When you lengthen the jeans there would be white hems lines showing.

Make it Do, Do Without: Avoid the temptation to buy more kitchen gadgets and appliances.  (This one definitely applies to me!)  Take inventory of what you already own and re-read the instruction booklet that came with your appliances.  They might suggest new-use idea's.

Finally, don't buy on impulse.  First, ask yourself "Can I do without it?" Many impulse purchases turn out to be much less suitable than they seemed at first.

I, for sure, love the motto.  I'm getting the feeling that the owner of this recipe box was probably trying very hard to be thrifty and maybe did do some of these suggestions (I hope that saving money wasn't somehow tied to the Narcotics Detective note that we found earlier).  My biggest challenge with being more thrifty is in the area of food.  Because it's my passion, I probably spend too much money on food and food related items.  There is nothing I love more than to go into a specialty food store and shop.  But, boy, one can drop a ton of cash and not leave with much!  I've been trying also to not waste the food that I buy and to actually eat the leftovers or re-purpose them for other meals.  But, there ARE two things that I know that I can't do without...a jar of candied jalapenos and my Cuisinart Slow Cooker!!  

Candied jalapenos are great with eggs!