Tip of the Day: Revitalize a Yellowed Countertop

If the enamel on your counter or tub has turned yellow, add a handful of salt to turpentine and rub onto the enamel, then wash as usual. Make sure to test in a small area of the counter to ensure it doesn’t harm it.

Spending Less on Make-Up: Easy Ways to Save on Cosmetics and Make Them Last Longer

Make-up is one the most expensive household items you buy -- in fact, most women spend an average of $84 a month on cosmetics.

If you're trying to rein in your make-up budget, we can help! Visit our new website for easy ways to cut back on your spending and make your make-up last longer.

Tip of the Day: Folder Reinforcement

For a pocket folder you know is going to take a beating—like the one we keep near our tool kit that holds instructions—reinforce it on the sides and pockets with duct tape. It will last forever!

Tip of the Day: Shockingly Easy Carpet Tricks

If you can’t escape static electricity on your carpet, here’s an easy fix. Mix 3 cups water with 1/2 cup liquid fabric softener, put it in a spray bottle, and apply to your carpet. Not only will the static electricity disappear, but the mixture will serve as a carpet deodorizer too.

Tip of the Day: More Than One Way to Skin a Chicken

The easiest way to skin poultry is to partially freeze it first. The skin will come right off the bird with almost no effort.

Recipe of the Week: Maple Apple Crunch

Our recipe of the week comes to us from Anna in Los Angeles, CA. She offers this dish as an alternative dessert for those who love pie but don't have the time to bake it. Who knew one could make dessert in a slow cooker? It can be easily adjusted for those who have food allergies, as well!

Ingredients:
2 cups peeled, chopped apples or persimmons
2 cups granola
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup maple syrup or agave
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

How to Make It:
1. Grease the Crock Pot or slow cooker with butter. Put the fruit at the bottom and top with granola. Drizzle the other ingredients on top.

2. Cook on low for five hours. Serve warm. Tastes delicious with ice cream!

Notes:
Those with dairy allergies can substitute the butter for Earth Balance. Those with gluten allergies can use gluten-free granola.


Do you have a recipe to share? Let us know!

Tip of the Day: Steam Out that Filthy Bathroom

If you’ve let the bathroom get so dirty that it now resembles a gas station restroom, turn on the hot water in the shower for 10 minutes with the door closed. The steam will loosen the buildup of mildew and mold. Then, get in there and clean.

Tip of the Day: When Your Watch Isn't Waterproof

If you’ve ever seen condensation under your watch face, you know how frustrating it can be! Luckily, there’s a solution. Simply strap the watch to a light bulb and turn it on for a few minutes. The heat from the bulb is the perfect amount to make the water disappear.

Tip of the Day: Oven Love

When using your oven this winter, don’t let all that warm air go to waste! As long as it won’t pose a safety hazard to children or pets, keep your oven door open after cooking to help heat the house. A little goes a long way!

Tip of the Day: Save a Scalded Coffee Pot

Did you forget the coffee maker was on and scald the last remaining bit in the pot? Wait til the pot is room temperature, then add 1 cup crushed ice, 1 cup water, and 4 teaspoons salt. Swirl it around and the stain will lift off easily. This is a good tip for regular old coffee stains as well!

Tip of the Day: Vinegar for Diapers

If you use cloth diapers, soak them before you wash them in a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar for every 9 quarts water. It will balance out the pH, neutralizing urine and keeping the diapers from staining. Vinegar is also said to help prevent diaper rash.

Tip of the Day: Splinter Hint

Got a splinter you can’t get out? Try soaking the area in vegetable oil for several minutes. It should soften your skin enough to allow you to ease the splinter out.

Tip of the Day: Scrunchie Saved

Stop hunting around the house every time you need a hair band! Get a toilet paper tube and wrap the bands around it. Keep it in your bathroom or on your dresser and you’ll never be without a ponytail holder again.

Recipe of the Week: Peanut and Squash Soup

This yummy soup from Seventh Generation will warm your tummy and warm your soul this winter. It's a Senegalese dish with a wonderful sweet/spicy flavor.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil
4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed, peeled butternut squash
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro  

How to Make It:
1. Heat peanut oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add squash and next 5 ingredients (through coriander) to pan. Sauté 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Add broth, peanut butter, tomato paste, and crushed red pepper, stirring well to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until the squash is tender.
4. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Makes 6 one-cup servings.

Tip of the Day: These Deals Are on Fire

At Cellfire.com, you can sign up to get coupons sent directly to your cellphone! Browse the offers with a built-in organizer application for your phone. Many deals you must call to receive, but others you simply call up on screen and then show to the cashier at stores as various as Hollywood Video, Caribou Coffee, and Gamestop.

Tip of the Day: Glove Love

You’ve just come in from outside, and your snowy gloves have quickly turn into sopping wet ones. To dry them out in time for your next excursion into the winter air, pull them over the bottom of a jar, then place the jar upside down on top of a radiator or heating vent. The warm air will fill the jar and dry out your gloves in no time.

Tip of the Day: Panhandling

The handles on pots and pans can get very hot, hence the invention of potholders. If you have hollow handles, however, you can place some aluminum foil inside to keep them cool. It seems counterintuitive, but the foil blocks heat from traveling up from the burner. Don’t tell anyone how you did it. Use your bare hands. Impress your friends!

Tip of the Day: Candle Clearance

If you like decorating your home with candles, buy them on clearance at after-holiday sales. There’s nothing wrong with burning a pumpkin-scented candle in spring or a Christmas-scented one in January. If that feels weird, though, just stash the seasonal scents in the closet until next year’s holidays come around.

Tip of the Day: Visor Advisory

Turn your car’s visor into a handy place to store paper and other flat items by using rubber bands. Wrap several rubber bands snugly around the visor, then slip papers, CDs, or anything else under the rubber bands.

Tip of the Day: Sew Organized

If you use a sewing machine often, mount a small bulletin board on the wall next to it. Then fill it with pushpins or straight pins. That way when you’ve got your hands full, you can use the pins to hang extra thread, buttons, bobbins, and other miscellany on the board until you need it.

Tip of the Day: Refresh Your Lettuce

You’ve left the lettuce in the crisper for a few days, and now it’s too wilted to use for a salad. Perk it right up by submerging it in a bowl of cold water and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Let sit for 5–10 minutes and it will be as good as fresh.

Tip of the Day: Ring A Ding Ding

Screw a small hook into the wall near your kitchen sink. It will make a handy place to store your rings while you’re doing the dishes.

Tip of the Day: Foil Foible

Very acidic or salty foods can eat through foil. Don’t store leftovers with lots of tomato sauce, lemons, or pickles in foil as it can affect the taste of your food and even pose a health risk.

Tip of the Day: Don't Be Corny

To get rid of corns, soak a Band-Aid in apple cider vinegar, and apply it to the corn for a day or two. You can also try soaking your feet in a shallow pan of warm water with half a cup of vinegar. Either way, finish by rubbing the corn with a clean pumice stone.

Tip of the Day: Frost Fix

If your windows are frosting over, dissolve 1 tablespoon salt in 1 gallon hot water and rub on the panes with a soft cloth. Then wipe away with a dry cloth. This will often keep your windows frost-free.

Extreme Coupons Tip of the Day: ZIP Code Trick

When finding coupons online, try typing in different ZIP codes than your own. Coupons list different values and types of coupons for different parts of the country, but your store's scanner doesn't know the difference! Search from coupons from a more expensive part of the country or somewhere where coupons are less popular, and you may see significant savings.

Visit our new website for more extreme couponing tips!

Extreme Coupons Tip of the Day: Wholesale to the Public

Just because you don’t belong to a wholesale club doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t shop there. Many states have laws that say that a store must allow anyone (even non-members) to buy prescription medication and/or alcohol there. Most stores will also allow you to shop there if a friend has given you a gift card for the store. Call the store’s customer service department and ask them what their policy is.

Recipe of the Week: Sweet Potato Pancakes

Looking for something a little different to spice up your normal breakfast routine? This sweet potato pancake recipe from Bust Magazine is so easy to prepare. We left out the sugar and found it's equally good as a side dish for dinner.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup cooled, mashed sweet potato
2 Tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup almond milk (or any other non dairy milk)
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
cooking spray
maple syrup

How to Make It:
1. Prep your potato. Heat your oven to 350 and put the washed potato on the middle rack. Put a shallow pan on the bottom of your stove to catch any drips. The potato is done when you can easily insert a knife into the center.

2. Whisk together sweet potato, oil, almond milk, water, vinegar, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix until there are very few lumps, but be careful not to over mix.

3. Preheat a large heavy bottom skillet over medium heat for at least 3 minutes. You will know it is hot enough when a drop of water dances around the pan. Spritz with a light coat of cooking spray. Pour 1/2 cup of pancake mix and cook until the top looks somewhat dry (about 3 minutes). Flip and cook for another minute. Top with pure maple syrup.



Do you have a breakfast recipe to share? Let us know!

Where to Find Free Coupons Online and Beyond

What if you’re clipping coupons from your Sunday paper, checking your store’s circular, and printing coupons from the internet, but you still don’t feel like you have enough to make a dent in your expenses? Visit our new website to find out where to get free coupons!

Extreme Coupons Tip of the Day: Double Your Savings

Find out if there's a store near you that doubles coupons by visiting this website. Even if they only double on certain days of the week or month, stores that will double your coupons will double your savings! (Naturally.)

Extreme Coupons Tip of the Day: It's All About Percentages

You may be used to buying the biggest size for the most savings. But with coupons, the opposite is usually true. That's because it's all about percentages - using a $1 off coupon on an item that's $1.50 will give you 75% off, whereas $1 off an item that's $2 is only 50%. Buy the product with the lowest retail or sale price (even trial sizes, if they're not prohibited on the coupon) and you'll see the biggest savings.

Visit our new website for more extreme couponing tips!

Extreme Coupons Tip of the Day: Make Coupons Multiply

You can usually print out two copies of each internet coupon; just simply press the "back" button on your browser and print it again. If you have more than one computer, you can print out two copies from each! Then head to the supermarket and stock up on a good deal while it lasts by buying as many items as you have coupons for. Just be aware of your store's maximum number of coupons allowed.



Visit our new website for more extreme couponing tips! 

Extreme Coupons Tip of the Day: Combining Coupons with Store Sales

Getting the best prices at the supermarket is all about matching up store sales with currently available coupons. Luckily, there are a lot of websites that have done the work for you. Some of our favorites are For the Mommas, Living Rich with Coupons, and Southern Savers. Don't see your grocery store on any of their lists? Comment here and we'll tell you a coupon matchup site just for you.

Visit our new website for more extreme couponing tips!