A while back I was trying to sell a desk that wouldn't fit in a new place I was moving, This desk was heavy and about 5ft long with a 'topper' that was screwed into the desk back. The topper was heavy as well. I had a few people who stopped by to see it, but no one bought it. Finally a guy bought it but didn't want the top part.

I didn't really care, I just wanted to get rid of it and have it used by someone else. However I was stuck with the top part and didn't know what do to with it... I eventually did find something useful for it.

It is my catch all for when I walk through the door, kind of an entry way do-hicky-thingamajig(official name), that I pile books on, kick my shoes off under and in the upper right side, is a kleenex box full of doggy bags to use as I take the dog out for a walk

In another way I was able to scavenge a couple items from the trash to fix a mistake I made. We had bought a tall table with bar height chairs and after having the table for a few months, came to the conclusion that we didn't care much for it, but it was beyond the time-frame to replace it. We knew we would have to live with it and cutting down the legs of the table and the chairs was out of the question.

A couple days ago someone tossed out the exact same table that we had, but the shorter version! We grabbed the legs, used our own table top and used the chairs they had tossed out. We left our long legs and chairs with the other table top. It is beautiful and we like sitting at it again. Plus, we didn't have to pay a dime to fix our mistake.

We noticed the other table was gone by morning, which means what one couple gave up to the trash, made two homes happy!


Update: Reader Jeremy sent the following pictures and had this to say, "My wife and I bought this sidetable/hutch thing at the Salvation Army for $50 for both.
I took off the sliding glass from the top piece, painted it white and made into a bookcase.
For the bottom half, took off the legs to get it lower to be used as a TV stand. And then sanded and stained it.
$50 plus about $40 in supplies and we have 2 pieces of furniture."

Well done! Glad to share it with the readers!

Have you ever reused something in a different way than it's original intention? 
How about finding items that "fixed" a mistake?
Leave your comments or email me your story and picture and I'll put it up

Lately, I have been hearing that based on the commodity futures, prices on items will be going up on some of the staples that we buy at the grocery store. I've always been intrigued by this market and decided to look into these more as a way to save money.

There are 7 sections of the futures market: Currencies, Energies, Financials, Metals, Grains, Meats and Softs - I'm going to look at the Softs area as a way to save money while shopping. I figure that even knowing a month in advance that prices are going to start to climb, then I want to pick up the good deals now instead of waiting.

Taking a snapshot of this Softs list we have: Cotton, Orange Juice, Coffee, Sugar, Cocoa and Lumber

Cotton has a price that is going up for December and I'm thinking that anything made with cotton is going to be going up in price for the new year. That would include clothes, bath towels, some tennis shoes, bedding, cotton swabs/balls, furniture and rugs.

For those bigger purchases that are put off in the hopes that prices might go down, with cotton prices contracted to go up, buying sooner than later may help in the decision making. January is already considered a good time to buy furniture, carpet and bedding with the white sales and new styles coming in for the new year. You would be able to pick up good deals on clothes at the thrift stores, as always.

Orange Juice or rather orange growing season appears to peak in the winter months. Normally when produce is in season the prices go down, but perhaps there is a mini orange juice bubble on the horizon and people are putting money into the industry which is making it go up higher than it has in the last 2 years. So if you see a good price on oranges and orange juice concentrate, grab it and stock up.

Coffee looks like it has a nice jump  with a 13-year high and Starbucks and McDonalds have already announced their plans to pass the coffee increases to customers. And based on a few items I have read, the prices don't appear to be stabilizing anytime soon. So if you have wanted to wean yourself off of high priced coffee and learn to make it at home, now is a good time.

Sugar has two sections, they are sugar #11 and sugar #16. Sugar #11 is the raw sugar, before processing and before what we buy in the store. And sugar #16 are the prices given to processors, consumers and merchants.

flickr/cc - norwichnuts

Right now sugar #11 prices or the raw sugar is skyrocketing in price around the world but doesn't seem to be passed on as much as it could be to consumers, yet. But the buffer would appear to be disappearing for the the next year and picking up sales on sugar during the holidays would be a good move for the coming year. Just keep it in a sealed container and not exposed to moisture, sugar can keep indefinitely this way.

Cocoa has had a huge jump, but is still lower than a year ago. With the prices at their lower end right now, I'm stocking up on dark chocolate powder and making my own mocha coffee at home.

Lumber is the last Softs futures commodity on the list and they appear to be remaining high and stabilized. Obviously not much building is done in the winter and the price isn't as high as it has been in Feb - April of 2010, but again a good way to help make decisions on whether to build the deck to the house now or later.

With many of these price increases impacting the staples in our daily life, not mentioning the grains futures, you may want to begin cutting costs, if you aren't already. And for the eating-out-at-lunch crew, restaurants and fast food chains will be passing on the increases to consumers as well.
* Switch to Generic brands
* Clip coupons to items you already buy
* Consider warehouse membership or splitting one with a friend/family
* Freeze your bulk purchases 
* Pack your own lunch
* Brew your own coffee
* Set aside money to stock up on staples (grains, coffee, orange juice, sugar, milk)

Every now and then I like to see what people are looking for that brings them to this site. I hope to bring a solution to the problems if the searchers should look again. In the meantime, enjoy!

Q1 Creative things to do with dust bunnies? – I haven’t found anything pertaining to dust bunnies in particular, but I did find some nice tips on what do with lint.

*  Make artwork from the lint -Mix 1/2 cup of flour with 1 cup of Sta-Flo liquid starch, then add to dryer lint as needed to form shapes on a piece of plywood. Continue adding various shapes and colors, mixing with the Sta-Flo recipe as needed for the right texture. Allow to dry thoroughly, spray with sealer
*  Fire kindling in the winter or save a bag full to use outside to get the grill going
* Homemade lint paper and clay - (planetpals)
* Draft reduction – cram the lint in holes by your windows and doors
* Use as filler for pillows, blankets, etc

Q2 Can you give me hair tips how my hair can be as long as the Spanish? - This is a good question. I assume that long, strong hair is essential to many, no matter what country they come from. Unless you are already follicularly challenged, here are some starters to getting long hair.

* Patience - hair grows at 1.25 centimeters or 0.5 inches per month
* Keep your hair trimmed- broken ends will leave your hair weak
* Get circulation to your head by massaging it regularly
* Eat right – Food rich with vitamin A (dairy products, fish, spinach, apricots), vitamin B (meat, fish, bananas, leafy green veggies), vitamin C (citrus, melon, tomatoes and potatoes) and vitamin E (nuts, broccoli, whole grains)
* Relax- stress causes a loss of hair beyond the usual amount you drop in a day.

Q3 I’m burned out on frugal living, what can I do? - Don’t I know how you feel. Sometimes it just stinks having to see advertising for things that you want and can’t get. Impatience doesn’t get you very far, unless you are in a hurry to get to bankruptcy court.
Frugal living is a lifelong journey and that means we all have good days and bad, but we keep in mind why we do it - for a certain end goal that is unique and inspiring to each of us.

So this is how I do it, when I get burned out on this frugal thing, I take a week off and try not to be hard on myself. But, I also tell myself come the next week I’m back on the bandwagon and I’m going to go at it with all I can. Over time it will become second nature and you won’t feel as burned out because it will be a part of who you are.

Q4 What herbs will rid you of debt? - I know people go to herbs for a lot of different things health wise, but this one stumped me. After some searching I found a few ways you could attack this.

* Small oranges or kumquats hung around your home, threaded with cloves is “a way to draw money to yourself, fast.” (note: Please don’t sue me if this doesn’t happen, as I have no oranges hanging that would give me any money to pay you.)

* If you just need a specific amount of money for one venture or debt, write the figure in the wax of a green candle with a quartz crystal. Anoint the candle with vegetable or cinnamon oil and roll it in basil. Light the candle, meditate on the need, and let it burn out completely, putting it in a safe place (like a bathtub) if it will be left unattended.


* Create a money tree. Hang pieces of paper naming your current bills (food, rent, entertainment, insurance, whatever) on the different branches,and anoint each branch with ginger.

It actually sounds like you may just need a moment to de-stress - so here are a few herbs that would help with that:
Chamomile or Peppermint
For tight shoulders, use Valerian, which will also help with occasional insomnia.
Feverfew and Willow bark will help with tension headaches and stress-related migraines

Once the stress is gone it is time to take a look at why you have debt and figure out how you can stop creating more and get rid of what you have. In that case you may want to start with these 5 motivations for debt reduction or read these articles on debt.