Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Today, I thought it would be nice to talk about saving money by using items for multiple purposes and using every bit of an item. There will also be some freebies thrown in too. :)

MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD CRUMBS

1 - Do you eat the ends of the bread? We do not. Seriously, I just don't think bread heels are good for much more than keeping your bread from getting dry and gross. Most of the time, after we go through a loaf of bread, we just toss the heels to the birds in the back yard. Now I am using them to make bread crumbs. To do this I keep the heels in the bag and toss in the freezer. When I have accumulated several bags, I take them out of the freezer and bake them in the oven to dry them out. Then simply grate them and put in an airtight container. You can use plain or add seasonings when you use them. I have used these crumbs now in meatloaf and they really work great and are ridiculously cheap since we are already buying the bread. I also still have plenty of heels left over to give to the birds too. :)

Another cool thing is I have started to do this as well with Italian and French loaves that I purchase. We never eat the whole loaf before it dries right up. These get hard enough not to need baking. I grate them as well but put them in a different container. They make perfect panko breading.

AND NOW A FREEBIE BREAK!

Head on over to Walmart.com for a free sample of Dove's Men's Body Wash. The free sample link is on the top right.

LINK: Dove for Men


BAKING SODA FOR JEWELRY CLEANING, HAIR CLARIFYING AND DEODORIZING


2 - Baking soda has a bunch of uses. I am going to go over a few of my favorites here.

--- Hair clarifying. When you use the same brands of shampoos and conditioners residue your hair gets kind of blah and limp. This also happens when you use lots of product from mousses to gels and hairspray. Baking soda helps get rid of that build up really simply. I usually just keep some in a container in the bathroom and had a bit to my palm and then add my shampoo. Mix it all together and shampoo like you normally would. It is amazing how clean your hair feels afterward and it is by far cheaper than buying a clarifying shampoo.


--- Baking soda can also be used to keep your refrigerator fresh, but you do not need to pop a whole box into the refrigerator. Instead take a coffee filter and pour a half a cup of baking soda into the filter. Gather the filter and tie at the top and place this package in the refrigerator instead. This will last a month. When you take the baking soda out of the fridge, empty the contents into the sink and add a cup of white vinegar...this will give your sink a nice fizzy clean.


--- Baking soda also makes a great silver cleaner. Combine two tablespoons with enough water to make a light paste. Rub the paste gently into the silver. This works wonders with taking the tarnish off of silver without using any harsh chemicals.


FREEBIE BREAK

RitzPix.com is offering a free My Show DVD. You can upload up to 50 pictures and a 1 minute video to DVD. This could make a great grandparent gift and all you pay is $1.99 for shipping. This offer is only for today April 1st so check out the details at the link below.

LINK: MY SHOW DVD


VINEGAR IN THE DISHWASHER


3. If dishwasher spotting gives you a problem, don't spend extra money on spot reducers. Add two tablespoons of vinegar to your dishwasher liquid and run the wash as usual.



FREEBIE BREAK

I do not know how long this will last but you can sign up now for a free issue of Living the Country Life magazine. Check out the link below for more details.

LINK: Living the Country Life Magazine free subscription


CORNSTARCH, CLOVES & A CHEESE SHAKER

4. Combine 1/4 cup of ground cloves and 1 1/2 cups of cornstarch and put in an old shaker container (the plastic cheese shakers work great). Shake them up in those smelly athletic sneakers to kill the foot odor.


FREE FAMILY FUN

I don't know if you tried this last year, but we did and it was wonderful. April 17th through the 25th will be another Free National Park Entry Week! That is free entry to all the 392 National Parks! Last summer, we took advantage of a free National Park weekend entry and had a blast at the Grand Canyon. We packed a cooler full of sandwiches and treats from home and had a great day of picture taking and enjoying the time out. You will definitely want to take advantage of this.

LINK: Free National Park Entry

PS While looking at the U.S. National Park Service website, I also noticed that they are offering students jobs for the summer. If you have a high school or college student in the family, you may want to direct them to checking out this awesome job. I remember taking a trip with my family cross country when I graduated and we met lots of students at Yellowstone. Here is a link for details: U.S. National Park Service Jobs for Students. There is also a link for volunteers too.


Don't forget to check out Freeccm.com for their free music this week as well as iTickets.com. There are lots of great free songs out there.

FreeCCM has Hold the Light from Caedmon's Call. :)