More Dollar Stretcher tidbits.............

Make Your Home Flea-Free

When I buy flea collars for my three dogs, I use the extra that I cut off to put in my vacuum cleaner bag to kill any fleas that are sucked up! It helps to keep the house flea
free. Allison F. in Texas.
Note from Lucy: Here in Texas we are always looking for ways to keep the fleas off of our pets. It doesn’t get cold enough down here to “freeze” off the fleas during the winter months. I have used the extra bits of flea collars and put them under the couch cushions….

Save Your Clothes

I learned years ago quite by accident just how much dryers wear out clothing. The boss's wife came into the office wearing the same outfit I had on that day. Her outfit was badly faded and mine still looked great. I drip-dried mine on the shower rod. She dried her outfit in the clothes dryer. Her outfit looked years older. We bought them at the same store around the same time.

If you need to use the dryer, be sure to add a small, clean, dry towel to your load. I have one of those cheaper small bath towels set aside for just this purpose. This saves a lot of drying time. Before I started using this method, I had to put extra money in our apartment house dryers in order for my cotton socks and undies to get completely dry. Now I save that extra 75 cents a load and have saved a lot of money with this method. J. Grandmother & Great Grandmother of 41
Note from Lucy: I was looking at a pair of my pajama bottoms last night and wondering why they are wearing out so fast. The fabric around the top of the waist line is fraying and they are just too new to do that.

Soap Scum

Many people use Lemon Oil to polish their furniture; however, it is also a great way to clean soap scum from the shower doors. Have you ever noticed how no matter how hard you scrub those doors and how much glass cleaner or bathroom cleaner you use there is always that nasty film left on the doors? Next time you clean your bathroom just wipe a little lemon oil on the doors and you will see the soap scum just run away. Not only does it clean the soap scum, but it also puts an oily film on the doors, which repels the soap scum from building back up. Just wipe the doors occasionally with the lemon oil, and you will not have any more problems with soap scum. Also, you will have a lemony fresh scent. M.

Revenues from Bank Fees Up 41% in Four Years: Wow, this was an eye opener. The banks and credit card companies and using unique ideas to nickel and dime us to death with fees in these struggling times. Check it out.

Security freeze better than fraud alert: This was an interesting read considering, the fact, that TF had his lap top stolen and we decided to pay Life Lock to protect us for a year against identity theft.

Doing the student loan shuffle: Do you have kids who need to get a student loan? It’s going to be harder to obtain one with our economy the way it is: Check it out.

All of this information came from the Dollar Stretcher website. I really love this site because it has all kinds of articles to help out the American consumer and lots of tips… Here's another one that I liked.

Practical and Frugal Home Security: This article gave some great tips on securing your home. Check it out.

Note from Lucy: We had a great 4th of July again this year….It started off the night before, in the Woodlands, with the Houston Symphony playing wonderful patriotic music. The next morning I went to the pancake breakfast at the church, then home to nap, and watch my favorite movie for the fourth of July (Yankee Doodle Dandy). Around 6:00pm we had a dinner of BBQ ribs, chicken and sausage, some potato salad and baked beans. Then we were off to the Woodlands to watch the fireworks….I was so tired when I got home that I don’t even remember taking off my clothes and going to bed. I feel very grateful to live in this free country. I am such a cry baby when I hear patriotic music.

Have a great week everyone!