Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday!  This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which have changed as we've proceeded. (As things have settled down to a nice steady conversational pace, for example, I've deleted the rules about only one tip per person per week and about limiting the length of comments; I was worried early on about people flooding the forum with too much too fast, but I think we're past that risk.)

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Comments

The perfect baby gift you didn't know you needed

[teresa_from_hershey]

Thanks to everyone who mentioned *SNAPS*.

Snap closures on baby stuff are great and easy to use.
But! They can fall off.
You can hand-sew on replacement snaps but what works better is a Dritz snap replacer.

This is the perfect baby gift. I guarantee you don't have one, yet it allows you to replace all those darned snaps that vanish in the wash.
If you've never seen one, every fabric store sells them. They're a giant, specialty pair of pliers. Buy an assortment of snaps. The snap replacer can use several sizes.

You'll need strong hands to work the snap replacer, but it will keep all kinds of baby clothes in service when you replace the snaps. As long as there's some usable fabric -- or sew on a patch! -- you can replace the snap.

The snap replacer does both sides of the snap separately so you can replace the missing side.