Your Bright Idea BRAG

[sampler]

Hey guys,

Anytime I think of a great idea or I find out about a great idea, I wonder about all the other great ideas that I don't know about....

So I think we should brag about some bright ideas so that they can be shared, this way we can all be a little smarter in how we live our lives.





I got a few...

1. When I have a piece of paper/print out that is slightly crumpled, I run it through my printer again by printing a blank word doc so that the paper just feeds through the printer and irons it out. (it has saved me a few times from having to reprint stuff for school etc.)

2. Vinegar: I use it to clean my mirrors and to get the snow stains off my suede shoes.

3. Paper towel: I use a sheet of paper towel for my swiffer sweeper to collect the hair etc., works great...I reuse it a few times before I replace it with another paper towel. I do a sweep before I vacuum so the hair doesn't clog up the vac.

4. Pop can tabs: use them to create double clothes hangers (I saw this idea from a Dr. OZ episode)
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...4m2z5wsjpg.jpg

5. Dinning out: before I go out to a restaurant I always check the restaurants website to see if there is a email club that offers a coupon for a appetizer etc. (I am sure we all do this but thought I should share regardless)




What do you do? (It can be anything that can help us save time, money, or just a smart way of doing something !)





..

[citywidedAVE]

I use the water that I collect in my basement from the dehumidifer in my vegetable garden! It gives my cucumbers a healthy dose of water chemical free and my food storage stays dry!

[d.ot]

I keep eggshells to grind up and sprinkle in my pots - extra nutrients for the plants and less waste for me!

[ange410]

I am old fashioned and still make my shopping list with pen on paper, instead of in an app or in the notes of my phone. The trouble, though, is that I occasionally manage to lose the list in between stores. I really try to keep track of the darn thing, but sometimes it just ends up MIA. So now, before I leave the house, I take a picture of it with my phone. I cannot tell you how many times those pictures have saved my shopping butt!

[Arvilish]

I use coffee ground as fertilizer for our garden in backyard.

[Anna Michele]

Great idea for a thread! I water down my dishsoap juices and anything else that I can.

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[sampler]

This thread will surely die here...

And I was concerned that people won't want to share their special secrets...now there is no chance...lol

[Anna Michele]

I have faith it will thrive us sharing our secrets and deals is what we are all here for

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[frugallegemom]

I hang laundry on the line spring through fall outside and do a lot of it in the basement in the winter. All of my stuff goes in the closet so I hang it right on the hanger to make putting it away a breeze. (puns lol).

This might be a bit extreme for some but in the last few years I started to only buy black sport socks for everyone - self included. We don't have a sock drawer in this house, we have a sock "bin" and everyone (except the toddler) just grabs there socks from there, I don't even roll them anymore.

Similar to the sock idea, I only buy white washcloths, they all get bleached together.

Microfibre wash rags from Dollarama. I wet them use these on my swiffer sweeper.

When de-cluttering, I learned from a slob comes clean to just put things away as you pick them up. It takes longer BUT on the bright side, you never end up with a mishmash of bags or boxes of sorted stuff to put away later (a later that never comes) because you get distracted or interrupted and lose your motivation...then usually have to start over after you've found yourself living out of the boxes lol. Also, no matter when you've stopped, you've still accomplished more than having an array full of bins you're just going to sort again if you get interrupted and put it off for a few days, weeks....months (lol, if you're like me).

I buy the reduced produce at the grocery store, not necessarily to eat whole. For instance, mangoes and melons. I will cut them up, freeze them on a cookie tray for a few hours (so they don't stick together) and then put them in ziplock bags in the freezer. Then when I'm feeling like a tropical smoothie I toss them into my blender with some other fruit and bananas or whatever when they're still frozen. Or I will buy the ugly apples and run them through the juicer. Or giant bags of tomatoes, and freeze them whole or cut up to throw into pasta sauce.

When I buy, say chicken or pork chops (or whatever) and know I need 4 portions but there are 5 in the package, I freeze the extra one. As I grocery shop I run into that scenario again and freeze the extra portion. Over the course of any given month, I end up with 4 of whatever - enough for a meal. This stops us from either over-eating or food going bad because someone didn't finish the leftovers in time. It's not "free" but it feels like a bonus meal since it'd be more wasteful for us to cook more than we actually needed.

I do the same thing with ground meat. I like to freeze big packs of ground beef in 1lb packages as that's what most recipes call for and what my family will eat. When I'm left with a few extra oz or grams, I freeze those and label the weight. Inevitbly, I end up with a lb of ground beef for a meal.

Still on the topic of freezing things - as mentioned above - freezing most things on a cookie tray - balls of cookie dough, homemade waffles, fruits, vegetables, homemade burgers, twice baked potatoes etc., on a cookie sheet for a few hours will keep them from sticking together when you transfer them into a ziplock bag so you can 1) grab only what you need and 2) not have a big iceball of frozen mash instead of yummy reheatable food.

[macw1960]

I am old fashioned and still make my shopping list with pen on paper, instead of in an app or in the notes of my phone. The trouble, though, is that I occasionally manage to lose the list in between stores. I really try to keep track of the darn thing, but sometimes it just ends up MIA. So now, before I leave the house, I take a picture of it with my phone. I cannot tell you how many times those pictures have saved my shopping butt!

I make my grocery list with pen and paper also but I use an old envelope that I received in the mail. The grocery list goes on the outside and the coupons I plan on using inside. I have never lost it yet.

[macw1960]

Already some ideas I need to utilize on this thread.

[coupon girl]

-I cut up old towels and give my hubby some for garage and I use a few in each washroom for cleaning tubs ,toilets etc
-I wear an old t-shirt when I dye my hair or paint with hubby's old swim shorts no paint on my clothing -wish I could say the same for my hubby nope

-use some items til they fall apart -tea towels ,towels -love my old tea towels -never had to buy a dishcloth in my life my mom always made them for me(she has since past) (had to buy one the other day 1.97 at walmart -uggg )

-always buy paint brushes at dollar store as you don't keep them anyway

[Momof3girlies]

I cut up a tea towel into quarters; take an old ice cream bucket, about four-five lids of the fabric softener then add the rest with water, soak tea towel quarters in bucket. When you go to dry clothes put soaking tea towel quarters into full load of laundry, you could also use cut up sponges in lieu of the towels.

[Momof3girlies]

When you're making pancakes next, try putting the batter in an old ketchup container with lid, then squeeze the batter onto the frying pan. this is a mess savor.

[Momof3girlies]

Iogo drinkable yogurt containers; I wash out after the girls are finished with them, then when I make a salad or dip for their school lunch, I put their ranch dressing in the Iogo drink containers (take label off so they don't think they have yogurt in them).