Send the kids to college

Today's Assignment

Get a 529 plan and set up an automatic savings plan to fund it. Visit your local bank for more information.

Save Water

Today's Assignment

Fill a 20 or 32 ounce soda bottle with water, screw the cap on tight, and put it in your toilet tank. That makes the toilet use a bit less water for each flush. If you flush a toilet three times a day, over a year this simple move can save more than a dollar on your water bill - and our toilet certainly gets flushed more often than that

Air up your tires

Today's Assignment

Check the tire pressure in you car's tires. Adjust as necessary.

Air up your tires According to CarCare.org, underinflated tires can reduce gas mileage by 0.4% for every 1 PSI below the recommended maximum on all four tires. Most tires can be as much as 10 PSI underinflated without it being obvious by visual inspection, meaning that a full airing up can save 4% in gas mileage, raising a 12 MPG to 12.5 MPG or 25 MPG to 26 MPG. Over a year of driving 10,000 miles in a 20 MPG car, inflating your tires can save $60 (assuming $3 a gallon for gas) in just that year.

Lights out

Today's Assignment

Go to your local hardware store and stock up on compact fluorescent light bulbs. Come home and install them!

If you replace fifteen bulbs with CFLs and use each bulb for four hours a day, you’ll save $0.22 a day, or $7.50 a month, in your energy bill. Per bulb, your savings each month is about $0.50. Savings: $7.50 a month

Build Relationships

Today's Assignment

Introduce yourself and get to know one or more of your neighbors

In a period of rapid inflation, people often turn to bartering for many of their needs. They’ll trade with their neighbors, swapping skills and items to take care of what they need. The best thing you can do right now to build up your value in that regard is to build those relationships now. Even if a bad situation never occurs, you may find many situations where that relationship is beneficial to you anyway.

Repurpose old clothes and furniture

Repurposing Old Clothes

· A new buckle can update an old belt in no time.
· New buttons can make a huge difference for little money and you can do it yourself!
· Take in the waist of a boxy jacket. It will make it more form-fitting and flattering.
· Many couture jackets have shorter, narrower sleeves so take them in and up if you want to give old jackets a more high-fashion look.
· Adding or changing trim can completely transform a piece of clothing. Be careful though, it can start to add up.
· Spruce up a boring, conservative jacket with a fur collar.
· Get out those scissors! Shortening hemlines, taking sleeves off a dress and cutting off lapels updates tired old clothes. Just remember, once it's gone, it's gone so cut conservatively.
Make a quilt.
Make a dog bed. Cut up flannel shirts and stitch pieces together to form two squares (size determined by the size of the dog). Fill with cotton batting.
Cut up a blouse, preferably with a small print, to wrap nice soaps. Use as a hostess gift or in guest bathrooms.
Turn into an heirloom. If the item of clothing has any sentimental value--baby clothes, for instance--use it as the cover for a scrapbook or photo albums.
Use brightly colored, sturdy fabric as a border for an ordinary lampshade or picture frame.
Use a large piece of cloth to cover a corkboard -- the corkboard will retain its function but will liven up a dull surface.
Clean with them. If you're really in need of dust cloths or bandages, chop, chop !
Sew patches of old shirts onto some jeans.
Make scarves. They probably won't be warm, but they'll look cool.
Make New Clothes! take an old T-shirt(preferably with no graphic)and you can turn it into a tube top, a halter top, or you could even cut from the bottom of the arm holes straight across to make a skirt!


Repurposing Old Furniture

Think outside of the box when deciding how to repurpose your home décor. Look at an object and try to see other uses for it. Here are some ideas to get you started:
· As I've said time and time again, changing the look of throw pillows can change the look of a room, with little work or effort. Don't get rid of pillows you already have, simply repurpose them by sewing new pillow covers, or by adding trim or tassels.
· Old filing cabinets and library card filing drawers are great storage pieces. Store craft supplies, sweaters, toys and more within the modern-looking metal pieces of furniture.
· Old towels and bedding can be repurposed to make bedding for your pets. Simply line a basket with the old material.
· Old boxes you have lying around can be covered in fabric or paper to use as display boxes. Shoeboxes are the perfect size to hold photos.
Have any old baskets hidden in storage? Show them the light! Baskets can be used for lots of purposes around the house. Fill a basket with toilet paper rolls in the bathroom, or slippers at the front door. Fill it with soil and plant a herb garden in the kitchen. Use it to store magazines in the living room. The possibilities are endless…
· Do you have old doors, windows, frames of stained glass, shutters in your basement? Bring them back upstairs! Polish them up, and using wire and screw-hooks, hang them from the ceiling to a desired height. They look beautiful hung in front of windows, and when hung low in a room, can help to separate the room's space.
· You can change the function and look of a bookshelf/entertainment unit with fabric. Simply make curtains for the furniture, and the piece can now act as extra clothing, shoe or knick-knack storage in a bedroom.

Emergency Fund

Today's Assignment

Add $20 to your in-home emergency fund. Smaller bills are suggested. They are easier to use in times of disaster.