ON THE CHEAP/ Get started today! Some basic tips will help you take

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 12, 2003 | by RACHEL SAUER

Fill the rinse-aid receptacle in your dishwasher with white vinegar instead of expensive Jet Dry.

Record your credit.

To prevent month-end credit-cardstatement shock and ensure you have set aside enough money to pay the bill when it arrives, record your credit purchases in your checkbook register in the same way you record your checks.

Instead of writing the check number in the first column, write something like "Visa" or "Credit."

If you enter your credit card purchases with red ink, they'll stand out, and it will be easy to reconcile the statement against the actual purchase.

Downright upright.

If you store opened containers of items like cottage cheese, sour cream and spaghetti sauce upside-down in your refrigerator, the contents will remain fresh and usable far longer than if stored rightside up.

Mary Hunt is the creator of The Cheapskate Monthly newsletter, which can be ordered online at www.cheapskatemonthly.com/um You can e- mail questions or tips at cheapskate@unitedmedia.com or Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135 Paramount, CA 90723. All correspondence becomes the property of Cheapskate Monthly.

PROFILE: SHE MADE AN ART OF GARAGE SALE SHOPPING

Name: Karen Jones

Cheap background: Left a career in retail management to become a stay-at-home mom and, looking for ways to save, started going to garage sales.

In the early 1980s, Jones formed Decorating on a Dime home accessories warehouse, and last year she decorated a $1.6 million Parade of Homes entry using garage sale finds and inexpensive items from Target, Hobby Lobby, Sofamart and her own warehouse.

Cheap details: She's booked six months in advance, regularly flies to Dallas to tend to clients there, and has a warehouse near Monument, which is open two Saturdays a month to area shoppers.

Quote: "People are just tired of being ripped off," she says. "They want their home to look nice, but not spend a fortune doing it."

Contact Jones: She teaches classes on the art of garage saling. Call her at 260-7619 or 559-1220, or send e-mail to her at decondime@aol.com.

WHERE TO LEARN MORE

More books, publications and Web sites are devoted to saving money and budgeting than we possibly could list. The travel industry alone has dozens: orbitz.com, travelocity. com and priceline.com, to name a few. Here are just a few resources to get you started:

BOOKS

"The Best of Living Cheap News: Practical Advice on Saving Money and Living Well" by Larry Roth ($14.95, McGraw-Hill/Contemporary): a compendium of articles on the art of thriftiness from the "Living Cheap News" newsletter. "Feed Your Family for $12 a Day" by Rhonda Barfield ($12.95 Citadel Press): dozens of easy-to-prepare recipes and practical strategies.

"Clark's Big Book of Bargains,"

by Clark Howard and Mark Meltzer ($14.95, Hyperion): Atlanta- based multimedia author Howard also has a Web site, www.clarkhoward.com.

"Shop, Save, Share" by Ellie Kay ($12.99, Bethany House).

"The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift As a Viable Alternative Lifestyle" by Amy Dacyczyn ($19.99, Random House).