Beverly's Bargain Tips - Great-Grandma Money Saving Tips

Our guest blogger, Beverly has some fantastic ideas about saving money. She calls them “great-grandma tips”, which are tips that our great-grandma’s would approve of if she lived in today’s world. The basic premise is that if it makes sense to do something our great-grandmothers would have done it, then do it!

Stretch your dollar by using ordinary items from your kitchen. Recycling not only saves money, but it creates a mindset of making the best with what you have. Kind of like that old saying "If you’ve got lemons, make lemonade."

Plastic Milk Bottles.
1) Cut off a portion of the top, leaving the handle in place. Add birdseed and make a bird feeder, hanging it on a clothesline or tree branch.
2) Make a garbage caddy for the sink, especially great if you don’t have a garbage disposal.
3) Make a caddy for tools or painting supplies.
4) Cut off the bottom and use the top as a funnel.
5) Fill the entire jug with beans and use for exercise weights, or just storage for the beans.

Plastic Soda Bottles
1) Make a homemade tornado, place two bottles together, top to top - filling one with water. Tape the tops together and swirl around to make a tornado effect.
2) You can also make a funnel from the tops of soda bottles.
3) Add some sand or rice and use for a homemade bowling game for the kids, just be sure to glue the caps on.

Jelly Jars/Mason Jars
1) Remove labels and use for gifts, placing a pretty piece of fabric on top and tying with a ribbon.
2) Great for pencil holders.
3) Fill with candy.
4) Use for storing cotton balls or q-tips in the bathroom.
5) Store sewing notions, crafts or hardware.

Baby Food Jars
1) Perfect for lost buttons.
2) Store small nails.
3) Keep beads or small craft items sorted easily.

Egg Cartons
1)Great seed starters, get a head start on Spring.
2) Storing plastic Easter eggs.
3) Make a memory game for children, matching up items from around the house.
4) Storage for collectible rocks.
5) Jewelry box, great for earrings.

Salt
1) Remove grease and stains from pans and dishware.
2) Put out a grease fire.
3) Clean a sticky iron plate by sprinkling salt on a piece of paper and moving the hot iron over it.
4) Ease the pain of beestings.

Baking Soda
1) Add to a damp cloth and remove crayon and marker from walls and furniture.
2) Pour a little down the drain with some vinegar, let sit 5 minutes and wash down with warm water to clear clogged drains.
3) Mix with facial cleanser to make an exfoliator.
4) Ease the pain of beestings.
5) Line a litter box to prevent odors.
6) Keep an open box in the fridge to prevent odors, put one in the freezer too.
7) Use ¼ c. on a damp food burned pan, let sit for 5 minutes and scrub clean easily.

Coffee Cans
1) Use food bag labels and create unique storage containers for flour, sugar, cornmeal, etc.

Mesh Onion Bags
1) Add leftover pieces of soap and make a scrubber.
2) Contain small items while in the dishwasher.
3) Cut bag open and scrunch together to make a dish scrubber.

~ Written by Elizabeth