More Tips and Ideas To Help You Spend Less Money

By Heather Canter

This week I'm going back to some tips and ideas that can help you avoid having to make purchases and spend your hard-earned money on stuff that you might can do without.

Recently, I heard about an interesting way to repel bees and mosquitos when you're outside. It involves a dryer sheet. Everyone has probably gotten to school or work and suddenly found a dryer sheet in your pants leg or in your shirt, but this little tip involves putting a dryer sheet in your pocket on purpose. The dryer sheet will help keep bees and mosquitos away from you. And, to go one step further, if you don't have sensitive skin and the dryer sheet doesn't irritate your skin, you can even wipe your arms and legs with the dryer sheet for added protection. Then, just put it in your pants pocket and don't worry about those pesky pests.

One tip I would like to offer is something that I do myself. If you've had to be in the hospital or had a doctor's appointment and had an IV or blood taken, most of the time you will have to have a bandage put over the site and tape holds it down. Depending on how long you have to wear the tape, many times it will leave a sticky residue that is hard to remove. Now, obviously, anything you use, you would need to be careful not to get it into a wound or cut on your skin. Alcohol or the individual alcohol wipes can help remove the residue as can peroxide.

Others have said that mineral, vegetable or baby oil can also be used for the residue.

Baking soda and baking powder are inexpensive products (less than $5) that can be used for so many things in and around the home. First, the soda and the powder are both leavening agents which are added during baking to create carbon dioxide and cause the food to rise. You can make your own baking powder by using baking soda. According to www.bellybytes.com, stir and sift together two parts of Cream of Tartar to one part baking soda and one part cornstarch. The website also gives 61 different uses for baking soda. Some of those include keeping an extra box of baking soda by the stove to use in case of a grease or electrical fire. They also suggest keeping a box in your garage and in your car in case of fires.

Baking soda can be used to clean a variety of things, from food to counter tops to coffee pots. When washing fruits or vegetables, sprinkle about three or four tablespoons of baking soda in your sink or pan of water and stir it up. Then use that to rinse the food. Using baking soda and water on a sponge or damp cloth can be useful in your kitchen or household cleaning.

Baking soda can also be sprinkled on rugs or carpets to help deodorize your home. Sprinkle some on your carpet and then vacuum it up. Not only will your carpet be refreshed, but the baking soda will also help your vacuum cleaner dissolve any odors that might be hanging out in there. But don't sprinkle the baking soda on wet carpet or in a humid area, as it can cause stains.

Another great way to use baking soda is to defeat those shoes with the deadly smell in them. You can use a socks and fill up the toe end with baking soda. Put the socks into the shoes that are haunting your nose and leave overnight. It helps remove the odor.

Most everyone would like to have whiter teeth. Well, baking soda can help with that too. Sprinkle a little bit onto your toothbrush with your regular toothpaste and it works as a whitening tool.

A box of baking soda, set in the fridge or freezer, works as a deodorizer. After the box has served its purpose there, it is not necessarily ready to be thrown out. You can use that old box of deodorizer that you're replacing and pour it down your sink. It can help as a drain cleaner. When you pour it down the sink, you should run some hot water down behind it to assist.

The final tip I'll leave you with this week is to use baking soda as an antacid. Stir about half a teaspoon of baking soda into a glass of water for instant relief.

I'm sure there are many more tips for baking soda, but that's all we have room for this week. Anyone who would like to add a tip or suggestion, whether using baking soda or some other relatively inexpensive item, let us know so we can spread the word. Tips can be e-mailed to heather@mountaintimes.com, dropped by our office at 7 East Main Street in West Jefferson or mailed to PO Box 327, West Jefferson, NC 28694.