Save the tissue paper

Christmas is over and I hope you haven't thrown out all the wrapping paper and tissue from the gifts. You can iron the tissue paper on a medium setting and use it again. And again. It will have a few wrinkles but no one will notice once it's crumpled into another gift bag.

Warm floors

It's getting cold! Keep your floors warmer this winter by putting newspaper under throw or area rugs. Newspaper is a great insulator.

Rice to the Rescue!

Body aches and pains gettting to you? Pour cheap rice into an old sock (without a hole!) tie the top and heat it in the microwave. The sock will be soft and will conform to your body to bring heat to the painful area. If you need a cold compress, freeze the ice instead of heating it.

Free tomato sauce

Got just the end of a tomato left? Or maybe one lone slice or a wedge no one wants? Instead of throwing it out, put it in a freezer container and freeze, adding others until you have enough to add to soup. Or you can use your blender to puree them and cook the results down for tomato sauce. You might be surprised how easy it is

Reusing gift wrap tissue

Sure, you can reuse it the way it comes, but you can also iron it. Use a medium setting; it irons quickly and if there are small wrinkles left, who will know after you've crumpled it for a new gift?

Saving freezer bags

If you don't want to reuse freezer bags after freezing meat in them, put the meat in a plastic bread bag first, then put it in the freezer bag. The freezer bag is perfectly safe for reuse and you can throw away the bread bag without losing a penny.

Thrifty or tacky?

Using leftover envelopes from bills that you pay online... the windowed kind? Would you use them to mail things to friends or family? You could use them to hold other things, like seeds or notes or whatever, but would using them for their original purpose - mailing - be just too extremely frugal?

Reuse Fat

Chicken fat used to be prized as a baking and cooking fat; beef fat is also good to use in many ways. When you roast a chicken or a piece of beef, let the pan liquid cool in the refrigerator, then skim off the fat. Clean it by simmering it in a skillet until all the water is gone, then strain and refrigerate. Try it the next time you need fat to cook with.

Vegetable grater

If you need a grater for vegetables or spices like nutmeg, it's a cinch to make your own. A metal jar lid is best, but any piece of thin but sturdy metal that you can hold on to works.

Put the lid on a piece of wood and punch holes in it with a nail. It's that simple. The side where the nail comes out will be filled with metal "spikes" where the nail forced it out. Fill the area with these holes and you're done.

Use this to grate anything. Use smaller nails for nutmeg, larger ones for carrots, etc.

Saving Cookie Crumbs

There are always a few crumbs in the bottom of the cookie jar (or package when you buy them). Don't just toss them. Save them in the freezer until you have enough to use for ice cream topping or add the crumbs to your home made granola.