Dollar stretcher tips for saving money on medications, hosiery, better baby shower gifts, and more.
Your Choice
While packing my daughter's lunchbox for school, I find that if I involve her and give her healthy choices, she eats the whole lunch. Before we started this, she would eat only half of what I had packed and I had to throw the rest of the food away, wasting money. Now, we both are happier.
Priya
Longer Lasting Pantyhose
I sell hosiery at Von Maur and a lot of my customers always complain that their pantyhose are not lasting as long as they want. When they come to me saying that, I always suggest putting pantyhose in the freezer after purchasing them. This works great. Since I have to wear pantyhose to work, it's great to stock up and leave some pantyhose (in the original packaging) in the freezer until the ones I'm wearing start developing runs.
Tiffany in IL
Reverse Hand-Me-Downs
When I find a great bargain on clothing that is one or more sizes larger than my child currently wears, I buy it for one of the kids who shared his/her clothing with my child. This has two benefits. First, it's kind, generous, and costs very little. Second, if I really like the item of clothing, I'm very likely to see it again on my child when it's handed down!
JD in St. Louis
Muscle or Joint Pain?
As a medical professional, I am surprised to see people spending a lot of money on muscle/joint ointments. These ointments can be very expensive when used daily for a chronic condition, like arthritis. Most of the ointments cause skin irritation that produces a heat reaction, which causes an increase in circulation to the area. Using a heating pad for 15-20 minutes can produce the same effect. Combine the heating pad with a light massage (as you do when rubbing the ointment on the area to be treated) and you basically have the same "treatment" for a lot less money.
Jeanette T.
Jewelry Cleaning
There is no need to spend money on the expensive little bottles of jewelry cleaning solution that can be found at jewelry stores and mass-market stores. To keep your gold and gem jewelry sparkling, all you need is a small cup and some of the blue glass cleaner (Windex or generic equivalent). Put some in the cup and let your jewelry soak a couple minutes. If you have something stuck in the little crevices of a ring, you can soak a couple minutes, use an old toothbrush to brush it off, and then soak a minute more. When you're done, run the jewelry under water for a second to get any excess cleaner off and it will sparkle.
Beth
Prescription Help
Many people that need prescription medicine don't take it because they cannot afford it. The drug companies will take applications and give low-income people their medicines for free. All it takes is a trip to the doctor to get started. He gives you the prescriptions and you can go online to find the drug companies patient assistant program forms or possibly your doctor's office will send them in for you. Most of the medicines are sent to your doctor's office, but some are sent directly to your home.
Also, for elderly patients that have now had to get the Medicare D card and pay for their prescriptions, some companies, like Liberty, will let you file a hardship application. If your income is low enough, they will write off the 20% that Medicare doesn't cover.
L.
Better Baby Shower
When the ladies at my church asked me if I wanted a baby shower for my third baby, I had already stockpiled and saved practically everything my new baby girl will need when she arrives. Everybody spends a fortune on the first baby, but with subsequent children, we know just how few of the common baby shower gifts are actually put to good use. I considered turning the shower down.
Then one of the ladies had a brilliant idea. She suggested a diaper shower! If you're on your second (or 15th!) child, chances are that you have most of the things you'll need to clothe, bathe, and care for your baby, but that doesn't mean your friends and family can't help you over the financial hump of a new baby. Diapers are something you can never have too many of!
Cindy D.
Suggest a Purchase
Our library (like many others) has a service called "suggest a purchase." Using that, I have requested that the library purchase specific materials. Even though some are quite expensive, the library has bought almost all of them.
I try to suggest only items that would be of interest to many people in the community. For example, our library hosts knitting groups two evenings a week. So, I have suggested and the library has purchased several knitting books that have good reviews online. We have a large community of science geeks as well, so DVDs of Dr Who and Torchwood were bought because of my suggestion.
Another benefit is when the library purchases a new item because of a patron's suggestion, that patron gets to be the first to check the item out!
Jora
Going Without Cable
Six years ago, we decided to save money by not subscribing to cable. We live in a mountainous area, so giving up cable was giving up TV completely. There is little or no TV reception without cable, satellite or a substantial antenna. It definitely took some getting used to! My husband has lived TV-free since his late teens, so it was not a shock to him. I, on the other hand, was an addict! I grew up in a household where the TV was on for most of the day. Even if I wasn't watching it, it was playing in the background.
There are quite a few bonuses to our TV-free household. We don't have to watch the commercials! We no longer buy items that we don't need just because the commercials made us believe we had to have them. This is especially great with a 3-year-old. He rarely begs for sugary cereals and other highly advertised "kid" items at the grocery store. Our son also plays outdoors more than other kids his age that are watching TV for hours of the day, preventing him from becoming another childhood obesity statistic. Also, our family isn't subjected to the inappropriate content on cable and mainstream TV these days. We have a lot of control over what our family is watching.
Laura S. in Ogden, Utah
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