Category Archives: Cheap Tricks

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Cheap Trick: Magic Eraser Substitute

  By Maria Zannini • October 14, 2016 ,

I have to admit, Magic Eraser works. When I read what it was, I dug deeper and discovered it was nothing more than melamine foam. This is the stuff they use in big sheets for insulation and sound proofing. Here the Wiki link on melamine.

cheap-tricks-chick-magic-eraser

It didn’t take long for other vendors to undersell Magic Eraser by a huge margin.

As of this posting, Magic Eraser sells for $10.75 for a box of eight.

Yet a generic brand of the same material sells for $7.95 for a box of One Hundred.

Obviously, I know which one I’ll be buying next. And this includes FREE shipping.

To buy, click any of the pictures or product links on my blog.

 

It took me a long time to try Magic Eraser, but I’m hooked on it now. Although they wear out quickly, they do the job of cleaning beautifully without any odor or residue. Have you ever tried it?

 

 

 

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Cheap Trick: Wash Your Produce

  By Maria Zannini • September 23, 2016 ,

 

I watched a couple of little kids climbing the apple bin at a grocery store once. Their little hands had touched everything from snotty noses to picking stuff off the floor. A few seconds later, an old man had picked through the same apples. Someone else waited patiently until it was his turn to fondle the fruits.

In the end, I decided not to get apples that day.

Much to Greg’s annoyance, I wash EVERYTHING, even if it’s from my garden. Granted no human hands, other than mine ever touch the produce from my garden, but you can’t stop bugs or birds from landing on them. Not to mention, my new enemy, the deer.

cheap-tricks-wash-produce

Greg thinks I’m being overly cautious, but I say better safe than sorry. I even wipe the tops of any can I open.

How about you?

 

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Cheap Trick: Bath Time

  By Maria Zannini • September 9, 2016 , ,

Cheap Tricks, shower for dog

I must’ve bathed dogs thousands of times. My dogs and other people’s dogs. I don’t even look at it as work. It’s just something that has to get done.

I’m short so most of the time my breasts ended up plastered against the tub. It could be torture depending on the size of the dog (or cat), plus I always ended up drenched.

Since I was already soaked, I usually dashed off to the shower to clean up, and that’s when it occurred to me that it would be easier to wash the dogs there too.

I prefer to wash the dogs in my shower. It’s smaller, and they seem less agitated in a confined space with me. We also have a huge walk-in shower where we used to wash extra large dogs like Tanky. He’d go anywhere if it meant he was getting a massage out of it. With cats or small dogs I usually bathed them in the laundry room sink. It’s ample enough for a small creature and easy with a spray nozzle.

Is pet washing a big chore for you? Are your pets easy to bathe or do they fight the suds?

 

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Cheap Trick: Stronger Tomato Plants

  By Maria Zannini • May 18, 2016 , ,

Cheap Tricks tomato

I’ve used this trick for decades so I know it works. One extra tip: After you’ve pinched off the lower leaves, gently scrape the sides of the stem with a fingernail. It will help to form roots more quickly. If you use rooting powder it’s even better.

Once the tomato is planted, wrap a small piece of foil, no more than an inch high around the base of the plant. It will deter those blasted cutworms from decapitating your tender seedlings during the night.

Below are two pictures of the same plant. What a difference a few weeks make. The seedling (on the left) has been stripped of its lower leaves and I buried the stem about 3 inches from the lowest leaves (where my thumb is), then wrapped the base with a tiny slip of aluminum foil.

tomato in trough     tomato near harvest

Anyone growing tomatoes this year? What’s in your garden?

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Cheap Tricks: Amazon Price Drop Guarantee

  By Maria Zannini • March 21, 2016 ,

 

Cheap Tricks, Amazon refund

 

I’ve done this recently with a power inverter we bought for Greg’s solar array. It was the most expensive piece of equipment we bought for the solar panels, and it was something we watched for a long time before we bought it. On a hunch, I loaded it back to my Wish List. Sure enough, it went down by $30 three weeks later.

I politely inquired at Amazon about the price drop and they gladly credited my account. The service rep did warn me though that if the price dropped again, I could only ask for a refund once.

It pays to keep track of purchases, especially the more expensive ones where the money could be significant.

Have you ever asked Amazon to refund the difference? Did you have a similar experience to mine?