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Thread: Your Bright Idea BRAG

  1. #16
    Smart Canuck
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    Wow, great thread and great ideas..........................................

  2. #17
    Smart Canuck sampler's Avatar
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    Ok, so I don't believe this is just psychological but I think my showers are better now that I recently I purchased a shower filter (Culligan HSH-C135). The price was ok $60, the filters apparently have to be changed every 6 months and they cost $20...BUT, I live in an old condo that has water pipe issues , and I find that the water is too hard for me to take. My hair was turning brassy, I was getting these dry bumps on my shoulders, and my skin over all felt very dry after showering, and moisturizing wasn't working out much. I felt that my skin wasn't absorbing the moisturizer very well. After trying so many shampoos, body washes, and moisturizers, I decided that I should try changing my water....

    Now that I have changed to the filter shower, I notice that the water feels different on my skin, it sounds weird to say, but it feels "softer" on my skin? (trust me, I'm sane). I also noticed that my face is less oily (it is still oily but there has been a noticeable change), and I think my dry bumpy shoulders are going away. I have only used it a few times now, but I'm really glad I made the change. I am now considering switching all of my facets to have a filter now... I am just waiting to get richer though
    Last edited by sampler; Mon, Jul 27th, 2015 at 12:50 PM.

  3. #18
    Smart Canuck sampler's Avatar
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    Steam mop, everyone should have a steam mop (if it is compatible with your floors). I recently purchased one and I am in love with it. No more buckets of water, changing broom heads, and putting your back into scrubbing the dirt off floors....the power of steam will set you free!

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    Canadian Genius Crochetlady's Avatar
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    Great idea for a thread

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by frugallegemom View Post
    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.
    I do most of these!

    ALSO: I freeze chunks of ginger in a ziplock bag. Ginger always goes bad on me, but since I've started doing this my ginger supply lasts me for months!

    I find that the spices in taco kits are too salty. What I do, then, is I only use half or 3/4 of the package, Then I save it for the next time. I use that portion, plus some from the new box. Eventually after a few times I end up with an extra package or two. Then I use them to cook up ground beef in the spices and put portions of it in ziplock bags in the freezer. Next time I want a taco salad or tacos I just defrost the meat that's already cooked!

    When I cook carrots I make more than we need, and let them cool in the fridge. The next day I make marinated carrot salad. And when I make the dressing for carrot salad (that uses tomato soup), I make more than I need. I put some in the carrot salad, put some in an old dressing bottle to use as french dressing, and some goes in a bottle in the freezer to be used next time I want to make carrot salad. That way the dressing I make gets 3 uses!

    When I make Kraft Dinner I never put the margarine or milk in. Just the sauce mixed with the water that's left on the macaroni makes a nice thick sauce. I always make more than I need too. The leftovers are mixed with chopped celery, onion, dill pickles and mayonnaise and it makes a delicious macaroni salad.

    When I find a pork roast on sale I put it in my slow cooker. I cover it with an mixture of one bottle of BBQ sauce and water. I put it on for about four hours. Then I take it out and pull it apart and put it back in the slow cooker for another four hours. Delicious pulled pork!

    When I bring chicken home from the store I cook it in a microwavable dish for about 15 minutes. After it's cooled I put it in freezer containers (old yogurt or margarine, etc. ) covered with some of the juice. When I want BBQ chicken I just defrost it and warm it up on the BBQ with some sauce. Makes fast BBQ chicken!

    I wash and dry milk bags that have the tops cut open on them, and use them for free freezer bags. They also make good decorating bags for icing if you have the tips.

    When I find cheese on a really good sale I buy lots and freeze them. It's crumbly after it's frozen, but I don't care if the price is right!

    When I make a roast or turkey or chicken, ext. I put leftovers in freezer containers and cover it with some of the juice. When you defrost it you can use the juice to make gravy. I also freeze leftover mashed potatoes and cranberries. Just defrost it and it tastes like you cooked all day!

    I freeze leftover rice, and make a stir=fry with it later

    I use a large soft drink bottle to freeze water in for the cooler. No more melted water mess at the bottom of the cooler when you come home!

    I buy a few cases of bottle water at the beginning of the summer. When one bottle is done, I fill it to 1/3 with the larger bottle at home, and put it in the freezer. I keep doing with all summer, as the bottles get used up. When I want cold water I just take a 1/3 filled one from the freezer and top it up from our big jug. It keeps the water cold for a long time, and nothing tastes better than cold water on a hot day!
    Check out my new life blog.
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    I will be posting on it once a week. Hopefully it will provide you with a hint or two that you can translate to your own life, to make it better. Mine keeps getting better every day!

  6. #21
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    I've been making bread crumbs the past few months and freeze them. Then they are ready to pull from freezer when needed. (Because of the Oasis/Wonder coupon deal)

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frugalbigmama View Post
    I've been making bread crumbs the past few months and freeze them. Then they are ready to pull from freezer when needed. (Because of the Oasis/Wonder coupon deal)
    Another thing I do is I make ramen noodles without the seasoning package. I just pour off the water after 3 minutes of cooking, and add some ranch dressing. Makes a fast side dish.

    I keep the seasoning package to make seasoned oven fried potatoes.

    I also make my own croutons from leftover bread. I just take the ends that people don't eat, and leave them on a cookie sheet with a kitchen towel on top till they're dry. Then I put them in a bread bag. When I want croutons I just take a few out, shake them in a bag with one of those seasoning packages, and I have croutons ready made!
    Check out my new life blog.
    https://plus.google.com/114910790929192660665/posts
    I will be posting on it once a week. Hopefully it will provide you with a hint or two that you can translate to your own life, to make it better. Mine keeps getting better every day!

  8. #23
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    My wonderful man make our croutons from bread too. So much better then store bought!

  9. #24
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    Two things to share --

    1 - Sleeping bags -- ran into problems last year trying to wash one in my washing machine -- thought I had broken it as it blew the breaker .... so the last super hot weekend I took them one at a time - hung them outside on my portable metal hanging rack - wet them down with the hose - then rubbed in some woolite cleaner and hosed them off again -- these are usually just used inside and are a fiber fill rather than down but they get used a fair bit by my DS's friends when they stay over. They now smell fantastic as they have been washed and dried outside. Saved $20 each one from bringing to the laundromat.

    2. cleaning the metal racks in the oven -- take them out - put them in a garbage bag - open it up enough to spray the rungs with easy off oven cleaner - and seal the bag. I leave them outside for a few hours until the oven is done and I'm ready to clean the racks.... the cleaner washes right off - barely any effort to get nice bright shiny racks again
    Last edited by dahliagrower; Mon, Jul 27th, 2015 at 10:24 PM.

  10. #25
    Canadian Guru avoncallingu's Avatar
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    I save and a few friends save for me, flyer covers (plastic bags) to use as poop-picker-upper bags when I take the dogs for a walk. I then use a baby diaper holder lined with a garbage bag, which I keep outside, to house them until it's time for garbage day. I bought the baby diaper holder at Value Village.
    Giseledta, ROMEO, sampler and 7 others like this.
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  11. #26
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    There are a ton of windows and mirrors in the house and if they are just streaky the paper towel doesn't get dirty, so I just hang it over the windex bottle and it dries and can be used next time the mirrors/windows need cleaning.

    Saving water has been pretty important since we have to pay for it here. I have a shower head that stops which I absolutely love; while lathering up or shaving, it really makes a difference on the amount of water used. I also have an ice cream bucket in the kitchen sink for when the coffee pot gets rinsed out, or running the water to get hot water, the water from the bucket is used on plants.

    I freeze bread ends as well and use for stuffing. Just take out of the freezer and dice up, then leave out for a night to dry out, or put in the oven on a low temp for a few minutes and use for croutons.

    Great thread! I'll be back to read all the wonderful tips and tricks from other SCers and add more of my own
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  12. #27
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    <3 This thread
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  13. #28
    Senior Canuck lovelikewinter3's Avatar
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    These are all incredible ideas!

    - For my daughter, her lunches are almost always leftovers. She loves it, and we have no food waste this way.
    - I started growing my own garden this year (since the landlord finally decided to cut down that big sunblocking-groundacidifying tree behind our backyard, so we've gotten some free produce out of that!
    - We got a BBQ at the beginning of the summer as a gift, and it makes for easy cooking of vegetables/meat. We've used it at least once a week since we got it (sometimes 2-4 times) and we still haven't had to change the propane, so I'm calling it a money saver at this point!

    I'm sure I have others that haven't been mentioned, but they're not coming to me right now.
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  14. #29
    Sith Lady and Cool Kid Darth Penguin's Avatar
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    One advantage of using the bbq is that you are not overheating the house and needing to run your AC, if you have it..


    Short answer : no Long answer : NOOOOOOOOOOO!

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  15. #30
    Senior Canuck lovelikewinter3's Avatar
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    I don't have AC, which just means that I'm less likely to overheat if I use the BBQ, so I still count it as a win! (also, the hydro savings from not having AC... hehehe)
    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Penguin View Post
    One advantage of using the bbq is that you are not overheating the house and needing to run your AC, if you have it..
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