But where to get candles at a frugal price?  We buy most of ours from the local thrift shop- I watch for seasonal sales in particular, as I don't much care if I am burning an orange candle in December, or a blue one smelling of the sea shore in January (in fact, I'd love that).  I also buy the little tea lights for fondue pots when they go on sale.

Stock up- CVS and Walgreens will often feature packages of candles as loss leaders- they will have a coupon allowing you to get four or six candles at a drastically reduced price.

Consider buying replacement wicks from the local craft store, so that those marked down, scuffed up and burned out thrift shop candles can be refurbished with a new bit of wicking for a longer life.

Getting the fullest possible use out of your candles:

If the candle holder is black from smoke, you can clean it up very easily by wiping it out with a cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol.

REuse the container for more candles- to empty it out of the leftover bit of wax, put it in the freezer over night.  The candle should pop out easily, with perhaps just a bit of leverage from a butter knife.

Don't throw the wax away- I save old candle ends and the last bits of crayon.

You can use these to rub on the edges and metal parts of a drawer that sticks to make it open and close more smoothly.

You can rub the bottom of a large cardboard box with a bit of candle end and use the box for sliding down a grassy hill.

If the candle is scented, you can melt it down (gently, over low heat) and pour into candy molds, freeze, pop them out, and you have those scented wax pieces for tart burners.

Make fire starters- take an egg carton and put old dryer lint in each compartment.  Pour melted candle wax over the lint. Let cool.  Use these on camping trips and for bonfires outside.  Good stocking stuffers for your outdoorsmen!

You can make another candle with them, or you can make the following Christmas ornament:

Directions here.

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Lettuce- grow this in an ice-cream bucket of compost or potting soil.  Sprinkle with lettuce seeds, sprinkle with dirt, keep damp and set in a sunny window or outside on your deck or patio.  Water regularly.  Harvest by pulling off outside leaves rather than pulling up the entire plant.

Purslane: it should NOT have a milky sap (milky sap is a different plant).  The leaves are succulent and I think delicious.  Purslane grows just about everywhere and is easy to find- make sure the purslane you picke has not been sprayed for weeds.

Day Lilies: NOT tiger lilies, but day lilies, the plain orange ones. Snip the buds into rounds, tear the petals into ribbons, or have the petals inside your sandwiches instead of lettuce.

Viola or Johnny-Jump-Up petals

Sprouts you've grown yourself (all you need is a jar, water, and a bit of old nylon or cheesecloth, and seeds- lentils, mung, alfalfa)

Lambsquarter leaves (young ones are better)

Toss with lemon juice, vinegar, and herbs, or salad dressing of your own making.

Serve with croutons of your own making (dice leftover bread slices into squares, toss with oil and herbs, toast in the oven)

Add other vegetables as you choose- from the garden, farmer's market, or store.

Choose a book on edible weeds for further explorations in wildcrafting

Do you eat from your flower garden or consider weeding the garden harvesting dinner?  What's your favorite edible weed?

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1. This advice given to us at the beginning of our marriage.  We did know this one from the beginning, but we also strayed from this one too many times.  Still, having been told early on, we did do much better than might have otherwise. We'd have done better still to never use a credit card at all, or at least to never, not even once, use it without paying off the balance at the end of the month.

2. Laundry soap, home-made (Also check out my Q and A posts on the laundry soap here. also here, and for more information on suds try here.) This would have saved us a bundle if we'd done it from the beginning or our 1982 marriage instead of only the last five years.

3. After far too many years of ordering pizza delivered on pay-day, we finally realized that if there is any regular indulgence in your life that you can only afford on payday, you really cannot afford it at all and need to get your spending  under control.  We needed to get our self-control under control!

4. Home-made diaper wipes and travel wipes.  We did this pretty well for the last three children. Even though the 'baby' is now nearly 12 years old, I still make these from time to time for traveling.  So refreshing!  And so nice for sensitive skin.  Also, I asked my grandson's mama to tell me off the top of her head her favorite frugal tip she'd learned from me, and this is what she thought of.  My grandson's mama is my second daughter, and while I do love being the grandmama, I can't really say it's more fun than being the Mama.  It's loads of fun, but not more fun- just different.

5. This home-made stain remover, which works even on thrift shop baby clothes with yellowed stains of undetermined origin.  In fact, sometimes I can buy used baby clothes that are drastically marked down because of those yellow stains, and then I soak them, launder them, and sell them at a yard sale or consignment store for more than I paid.

6. Washing my hair with baking soda I do have incredibly soft water. When we went on vacation we stayed in places where the water was incredibly hard, and my hair just felt stiff and icky, so while we were gone I switched back to shampoo- only Head and Shoulders because my hair felt so gross (Pipsqueak, who has thin, silky, very blonde hair, does not use baking soda, and she, too, complained of her hair feeling 'gunky' from the hard water). I noticed that I had to shampoo my hair daily or it was greasy and clumpy, whereas, at home with baking soda, I can go three days between washings, and my hair still isn't as disgusting as it was in 24 hours with hard water and shampoo.

7. Washing my face with cod liver oil The first week I did this every night.  Now I only use the oil a couple times a month, and mostly just splash my face with warm water and baking soda the rest of the time (the baking soda when I am washing my hair), and maybe take clean, wet washcloth to it.  I don't wear make-up, so this regimen works well for me. If you wear make-up, the cod-liver oil is a great remover.

8. This recipe for cookies- no wheat, no corn, no eggs, no sugar, no dairy, but the Cherub still loves them!

9. Reading the Tightwad Gazette Books To be fair to myself, I could not have read these from the beginning because they were not published yet. I do have all my Progeny read them for part of their Home Economics class in our homeschool. If anybody tells you these are 'extreme' ask them how much they are saving each month and what their debt level is, and then ponder whether or not that's the sort of standard you share or desire.

10. Revising my way of thinking from 'what do I feel like having' to the What's In My Hand principle (see also here) , because the biggest aid in frugality is attitude. I know you've heard me say that before, but I don't think we can hear it enough. Y'all are probably much nicer than me, but there are always new areas I am discovering where I am a bit of a spoiled brat. I am 48 years old and I think I was a late bloomer at this growing up stuff.

So... what do you wish you'd known way back when and put into practice from the start?

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You don't have to have a big, involved composting system like ours to benefit from compost.  This is ours at the messiest time of year:

My husband is really embarrassed about this picture, btw- it's the worst the compost pile ever looks.   It only stopped snowing a few weeks ago, and we don't really do anything to the compost pile over the winter except add things to it, and on the days that have been dry enough to work outside, we've been busy mowing lawns (ours, my mother's, the grass by the creek bed...), and on days that weren't nice enough, well, the weeds grew anyway.  This compost pile framework is made from pallets and old fence posts, both of which were free to us.  My husband measured the pallets, stuck the fence posts in the ground at the right intervals, and then we just set the pallets over them.

This is the biggest compost pile we have ever had.  In previous locations we had:

A one compartment pile, made  from from four pallets over fence posts, and I would lift up the front pallet and shovel the pile and put the pallet 'gate' back in place.  I was younger then.

A round pile made by first sticking a PVC pipe with holes in it in the ground vertically, then placing four fence posts about two feet out from the center pole and wrapping chicken wire around it all.  We tossed compost in over the chicken wire, stuck a hose down the PVC pipe periodically to water it (and the pipe with holes served to air it out so less turning over was required), and periodically lifted the chicken wire off and turned the thing over.

A trash can with holes drilled in the sides- I'd put the lid on and roll it around the yard periodically- or have a child do that.

This is how we use our current compost pile:

On the far right side is the place for 'fresh' things- we keep an old ice-cream bucket for scraps in the kitchen, and periodically we dump that bucket in the far right side.  Every once in a while we shovel one of the following over the top of that:

Dead leaves

shredded paper

dirt from the woods

old hay or straw from the gardens or the barn

We fill up that far right side until, well, until it's full enough, about 3/4 of the way to the top, and then we (meaning my son) shovel it out of the far right compartment into the middle compartment.  As you can see, once in a while somebody doesn't pay attention and they dump 'new' compost material onto the middle compartment, but they aren't supposed to do that.

Now, in the winter, that's all that happens.  This weekend, the first really solid spring weekend we have, which is when my husband was hoping I would be writing this post and taking a picture of the compost pile, the weeds get pulled out of the way, and the compost pile in the middle gets shoveled up and over to the compartment at the far left.

For the rest of the season, until first snow, every day we add new compost to the narrower section at the far right and just keep adding to that section, and every week we shovel the 'aged' compost from the middle to the section on the left, or back from the section on the left to the section in the middle.  This regular turning over gives us rich, dark compost in just a month or so.

I use that compost for seedlings, to put in five gallon buckets where I grow tomatoes and peppers (we have a lot of yard, but it's mostly sandy and shady), and for improving the soil where I can grow things.

You can compost in a bucket, an ice chest, or a 2 litre soda bottle.  Why would you want to?

Reduces trash

Recycles waste

Turns trash into something marvelously complex, interesting, and life-giving

Because then you can plant a couple window sill pots of lettuce or herbs in your home-grown compost- you don't need to buy potting soil or fertilizer- or even pots!

The two buckets hold lettuce seedlings, which we will eat by just pulling off the outside leaves (and thinning out a big).  I have a couple other buckets with lettuce growing on other windowsills.  The buckets were free, the soil the is my free compost, and the aloe vera you see is another useful kitchen plant, as we break off a bit and rub it on whenever we burn ourselves cooking.

I recently found out something interesting about compost which I did not know.

The Boy was building a small worm bed and the directions called for peat moss, which we did not have.  Aside from the frugalities of running to the store, we live ten miles from town and drive a 12 passenger van, and I do not make spur of the moment runs into town.  We go into town on a scheduled basis, and usually only when that trip coincides with other scheduled trips- music lessons, library volunteering, work, and so forth.  So I let my fingers do the walking, quite literally, and googled it.  I found that compost is not only a good substitute for peat moss, it's preferred for several reasons, one important reason being that peat moss is apparently not a renewable resource!  I had no idea.

You can make also make quick compost by mixing shredded paper and coffee grounds.

What should you put in your compost bucket?

Here's how we keep ours- we save all kitchen waste except meat and dairy scraps- I keep a plastic bucket with a lid on the kitchen counter (other places I have put it under the sink. Into it, I toss coffee grounds, cold coffee, tea bags, egg shells, vegetable peelings, moldy bread, slimy lettuce leaves, leftover bits of salad too far gone to use, the remains of dead flowers, apple cores, onion skins, sometimes hair from our hair brushes, all kinds of odds and ends, mostly from the kitchen.

I do NOT put the lid all the way on it- what makes a compost pile or the bucket collecting the compost fixings stink is a lack of air- the more airtight your system, the nastier it will smell.   I just leave the lid loosely over the top, or sometimes put a cloth over the top to keep bugs out, but allow it enough air not to reek. Every day or two that bucket gets emptied into the space  at the end of my compost pile.  If you don't have a big outside compost pile, you could use:

a trash can with holes drilled in it

An old ice chest with holes drilled in it (for drainage)- this kind works best for a worm bed, which will really give you good turnover for composting, or some other smaller container.

The Key Ingredients for Success:

Constant turn over- for us, that's because we have three bins- one for constantly adding new materials to, one is always empty, and one has the 'old' compost which is now in the final stages of breaking down. Having an empty bin makes turning over the compost much easier.  But you could do the same thing with a smaller container that you can just flip over or roll- the trash can, the two litre soda bottle with a flap cut out of the side for adding content, and holes for drainage (you can keep this in a shallow pan to catch drainage.  Use the drainage to fertilize plants.)

Airflow- you don't want an air tight system.  The smelliest bacteria thrive in anaerobic conditions.

You could also use your home-grown compost to grow seedlings to sell at your local farmer's market, or perhaps there is a market for it among some of your friends.  Maybe somebody who does have plenty of sunny windows would be willing to barter your compost for some home-grown lettuce leaves?

Even if you don't have a sunny window and you don't want to grow your own houseplants (although studies show they are good for the environment, filtering out toxins from the air), you can still make compost- after all, if you have kids, it's fun to show them how things break down and turn back into dirt!  You could share your compost with somebody who does garden, or simply take your bucket of new dirt out to the park and dump it out there instead of into the garbage.  After all, isn't it just amazing that the sort of garbage you see here:

Can into turn dirt capable of growing and nourishing something like this:

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I helped a friend host such a reception for 100+ people. Here's how the budget worked out, in real numbers:

• 3 Costco sheet cakes for $51, with 48 servings per cake
• 6 gallons punch for $12 with orange juice, ginger ale, limes/lemons
• fruit tray for $13: 10 lbs. small strawberries $10 and 3 canteloupes for $3
• 80 cupcakes for children for $8: 3 boxes  mix + homemade icing
• 200 fancy napkins $2 on clearance at cake shop
• 200 dessert plates $4 at restaurant supply
• 130 punch cups $9 at restaurant supply (not including 3rd unopened pack in reserve)
• 150 forks $3 at Big Lots
• Coffee provided by church (you can buy 5 lbs fresh ground for $9 at Costco)
• Pitchers of ice water (free)

TOTAL= $102 for refreshments, give or take a little.  Lower this figure with real plates and glasses.

We concentrated all the decorating on one large table in the center of a historic hall.  For a centerpiece, we combined garden clippings with a $4 bundle of yellow roses from Aldi, the discount grocer.   The $1 vase required one brick of wet floral foam from Dollar General. 

The banquet table was covered with a yellow floor-length cloth from a thrift store.   We topped it with white lace from Family Dollar, a discount chain.  Its 102-inch cloth costs $5, the cheapest available for long tables.

We added shine with silver serving pieces, garnished with lemon balm and citrus fruit. If you can't borrow from friends, a 3-gallon silver punch bowl and tray can be rented for about $15.  We elevated the fancy sheet cake for show, while cutting the other 2 cakes in the kitchen. In order to keep the table pretty, we served the pre-plated cake slices before cutting the main cake.

Such a simple reception won't work for everyone.  A cheese ball or finger sandwiches would have improved this menu greatly, but were not possible in this situation.  However, if you are short on time, talent or money, this cost breakdown might encourage you. A simple, frugal reception can be done!

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There are a number of ice-packs you can put together from what you have in your hand. I especially like this idea- first make a wrapper from a sock that has lost its mate or its usefulness- leave one end open.

Fill a ziplock bag about half full of water, fold it in half (so it will fit in the sock wrapper) and freeze it on a flat surface. Keep several ziplock bags filled this way and frozen so you can cycle them out for sustained ice packs.

Sometimes a ziplock bag will leak, and another way you can keep an ice pack going without the risk of leakage is to get a wash cloth wet, wring it out just so that it's not sopping and dripping everywhere, and then fold it neatly, slip it into a ziplock bag and freeze it (lay it flat on a cookie sheet for a nice, flat pack, these are more comfortable, more flexible, and also take up less room in the freezer).

For a larger pack, fill a gallon sized bag (or rinse and freeze two washclothes together) with just enough water to be about half an inch thick when laid flat, then wrap or pin a dish towel or a pillow case around it when frozen.

Keep two or three of these in the freezer all the time and you will always have one when needed.

Another tip I assume you already know is to keep at least a couple of bottles of water in the freezer- use old two liter bottles from soda or several old water bottles or a milk carton. We use these in the ice chest when we are going on a longish shopping day.

When I was a child my mother bought milk in waxed cartons (such as half gallons of milks come in). When we finished the cartons, she rinsed them thoroughly, filled them with water, and froze them, stapling the top shut. When we needed crushed ice for iced tea or making ice cream, we would take one of those ice cartons out to the patio and fling it on the concrete a few times, wack it with a hammer a few more times, and then dump out the refreshing crushed ice into a bowl or pitcher.

One prinicple that all these tips illustrate, regardless of whether or not you have a need for home-made crushed ice or ice-packs, is that one of the most important keys to frugality is planning ahead, which makes frugality much harder for me than it should be. I suspect that's true of a lot of us, and many of us dismiss certain frugal ideas as being too hard or burdensome or just 'not us.'

But planning ahead is an important skill to have- and rather than viewing it as a burden and an excuse to avoid certain frugal skills, we might learn to embrace the discipline as beneficent, something to help us learn new and better habits.

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Books and tutorials abound, but many fixes require little more than common sense.

• When I was young, my dad taught me to repair the junk lawnmowers we always seemed to own.  It was frustrating, but somehow the grass always got cut.
• I learned to repair VCRs many years ago; many times it was simply a matter of popping the case open and cleaning out the dust bunnies and grime.
• When my cell phone charger went dead recently, I snapped the cover open and found a loose connection.  A dot of solder with a $5 soldering iron fixed it.  Since then, I have repaired the children's booklights with the same soldering iron.
• Replacing the heating element in your oven is a quick easy repair that anyone can do.  Order the part online and make sure you turn off the power before you start.
• When our space heater went dead last winter, I opened it up and found that the low/med/hi switch was broken.  After carefully studying it for a few moments I realized that without the switch, it would be locked into hi.  I snipped out the switch and reconnected the wires, and it worked  for the rest of the season.
• A friend of mine spilled a drink on her laptop and the keyboard went dead.  Rather than replace it or pay for an expensive repair, she bought a new laptop keyboard on Ebay and replaced it herself.  Actually, she bought 6 and resold the 5 extras for more than her cost.  Smart girl.

My best tip: if a small electrical appliance goes mysteriously dead, open it up and look for a loose wire.  If you can make a safe repair, you have a free fix.  It goes without saying that your should be absolutely sure that the power is disconnected.  If you're in doubt about the safety or advisability of a repair, solicit help or advice from a handy friend.  Just think twice before you toss it.

What have you successfully repaired? What is your favorite Do-It-Yourself site?

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Some are perfectly sensible and others will copy you; maybe you're even related to somebody who used the same idea.  Some might look suspiciously close to your own past hacks.  And a few might not be such a good idea after all.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at my daughter when she wore a swim mask to cut onions, but it really works.

What was your funniest hack ever?  Did you see the humor in it at the time?

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Now I may have to start adding framed pictures without the glass to the pile-

Make a blackboard (very cool)

A perfectly scrumptious set of teacup shelves (this is an older link, but I've been wanting my husband to make me this ever since it was first posted.

Make a 'French memo board' (bulletin board with criss crossing ribbon)- very striking, this version is.

Make a really nice  tray or a simpler version.

If you're really an amazing crafter, you could do this terrarium with several frames.

Paint the frame to suit you, then add an old metal cookie sheet, cake pan topper, or other thin sheet of metal for a unique magnet board. Or insert cork or thick cardboard covered in a wallpaper or fabric you like for a bulletin board.  One of my daughters uses bulletin boards for her necklace storage- she puts up push pins and hangs the necklaces over those.

You can also, of course, use them as picture frames- reframing art of your own or taking cards you've gotten that you really liked as the pictures.  I have one huge frame just the right size to frame an art print I picked up at a library book sale (about three feet tall).  My frame, complete with glass, came from an auction for a dollar.  The picture it originally framed was a hideous pink and silver tempera on cardboard painting of flamingoes at a pond.

Which idea do you like best, or do you have one of your own?

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I put dry bread in the blender. I have also put very dry bread (dried out in the oven if I need to) in a plastic bag and rolled it into crumbs with a rolling pin.

Where do I get the dried bread? I keep odds and ends of any old 'bread' items in my freezer. This can be, but it is not limited to: corn bread, sliced bread, biscuits, crackers, the last bit of chips in a bag, cereals that aren't too sweet- these all go into a sealed container (jar, bag, or plastic food saver) in the freezer.

Then, whenever I need bread crumbs or have a big enough batch of odds and ends to make it worth my time, I blend them and season them as desired and add them to the recipe. You can toast them in a skillet over a low fire with a bit of oil and herbs and spices for added flavor.

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