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| Dollar Stretcher Tips for December 25, 2008 |
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| Written by K Quinn | |||
 Ideas on hosting a clothing swap, freshening carpets, finding cheaper auto financing and more. It Pays to Quote If you have renters or mortgage insurance, it's a good idea to get other quotes at least once a year. I recently saved $400 on my homeowners insurance just by contacting several insurance companies. It was really surprising how much difference there was between companies and the types of coverage they offered. I ended up going with AAA (yes, they are not just for automobiles anymore) for my homeowners insurance. Shop around for your home and automobile insurance. It may pay you big dividends.Rick J. in Bellevue, NE New Clothes for Free When the budget is stretched to the limit, the first thing to go for most of us is new clothes. But there is a way to fill your closet with a whole new wardrobe without spending a dime. Pickup a few bottles of wine and then call all your friends and invite them to a Swap Party. Tell them to bring some munchies and all the clothes they want to ditch. You can even tell your friend to bring a friend and so on. Once you have about 10-12 people together, you simply start trading clothes. By the end of the party, you and your friends should have a brand new wardrobe and a closet full of clothes you no longer hate. This is also a great way to update your kids' clothes too.C. Special Celebration Instead of going to dinner to celebrate something for the kids (braces off, good report card, etc.), we decided to let them buy any dessert they wanted at the grocery. Then we make a special dinner at home. This is a lot cheaper, and most of the time, they end up with a $4 container of ice cream. Even with a more expensive ice cream cake, this is still much cheaper than going out to dinner. NY Just Enough Seeing the advice about keeping a list of spices in your cupboard made me think of buying just the amount of spice needed at a health food store. Most health food stores sell spices and many other items like rice, pasta and nuts by weight. I just bring along my measuring cups and spoons and measure out what I need. This is a great way to save on recipes that you make occasionally or for that special holiday recipe that you make once a year. It has been my experience that most special spices cost less than 50 cents and some as little as 25 cents. MAH My Menu, My Choice Instead of purchasing frozen dinners to take for lunch, I make my own. I use the extra servings from a prepared recipe to freeze in sectioned, plastic plates I purchased cheaply at an off-price grocery store. I include the main dish and two side dishes, seal with freezer wrap, and label with a permanent marker. If I do this a couple times a week, I soon have a nice variety of homemade meals, which taste better, have no added chemicals, and cost much less. Ellen T. in Waterville, Maine Carpet Freshener If you use a powdered carpet freshener before vacuuming, you know how expensive this stuff can be. Because we have dogs, I use it almost on a daily basis, and I have found an inexpensive way to stretch the freshener. I mix one container of carpet freshener to one small box of baking soda and shake well. This will scent the baking soda and keep the scent of the carpet freshener from being overwhelming, all the while stretching your cleaning dollars. Candy in TN Turning Off the Dryer! We cut our electric bill $35 a month! We are a family of 7 that has been trying to cut our ever-increasing electric bill. I do all the things they say to do like keeping the lights off until needed, using energy efficient bulbs and appliances, etc., but it wasn't until I quit using my six-year-old "energy star" dryer that my electric bill went down $35 in one month! I was surprised at the difference just doing that made! Now I use a clothesline during the warm months and some drying racks in the house during the winter. An added benefit of hanging wet clothes to dry inside during the winter is it adds needed humidity to the air. Renee E. in Harrisville, UT Cheaper Auto Financing I will share a tip to save on the financing. Go and talk to your bank's loan person, get a number for them and program it into your cell phone. Go to a credit union, talk to the loan person and do the same. Possibly get a third name and number. Now once you have the price of the car nailed down and the papers signed, it will be time to talk financing. Want to live better on the money you already make? Visit TheDollarStretcher.com to find hundreds of articles to help you stretch your day and your dollar! Copyright 2008 Dollar Stretcher, Inc.
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 December 2008 03:24 |
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Money Matters Dollar Tips Dollar Stretcher Tips for December 25, 2008
