With Halloween just passed, waste no time looking through half-price bins filled with decorations, masks and other Halloween paraphernalia at a store near you! That's what one clever reader suggests. Today's first great tip may surprise you. It did me!

LANTERN LEFTOVERS. When Hurricane Ike passed through, I pulled out my "storm box," and inside I found several Halloween glow sticks that were at least 3 years old. To my great surprise, they made perfect "nightlights" throughout the house during the many days without power. The package said they last up to 12 hours, and they did, even though they were several years old. These glow sticks are especially handy for small children who need to carry around their own lights. I took advantage of the Halloween season this year and restocked my storm box. -- Liane F., e-mail

FLOUR SHAKER. Anytime I have a bag of flour that is almost empty, rather than store it, I transfer the remaining flour into an empty Parmesan cheese shaker for when only a small amount is needed. The lid opens on one side to allow for shaking out the flour, which works great for dusting cake pans. The other side of the lid has a wide opening with a flat side to quickly and easily measure out a level tablespoon to use as a thickener for soups and stews. -- Jennifer, e-mail

HOMEMADE WINDEX. Thanks for your tips on using Windex to clean. I find that a much cheaper but similar mixture can be made at home for only pennies. Cleaners such as Windex rely upon three common ingredients: distilled water, vinegar and ammonia. No matter what other additives a commercial product may add, the real cleaning is done by combining 10 to 20 parts water, one part vinegar and a scant amount of ammonia. Try starting with a mixture at 20 parts distilled water. If you need it stronger, you can add more vinegar and ammonia. Be cautious when handling and storing ammonia. Be sure to label the contents clearly as containing ammonia, and then store it out of the reach of children. -- Allen, California

PAINT JUGS. I've found that milk jugs make excellent paint containers for partially used gallons of house paint. I never have had one go bad; you can see the color right through the jug; and the contents are easy to pour when needed. Unlike paint cans, I never have had a milk jug lid get stuck, no matter how much paint is trapped in the grooves around the rim. I write on the outside of the jug with a permanent marker the manufacturer, the name of the color and type of finish -- satin, gloss or flat. -- Kellie, California

Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. Mary Hunt is the founder of DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living" and "Tiptionary 2." To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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