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By Frugillionaire
 Give your bedroom a designer look on a dime, by making your own duvet cover. Here’s how to do it in five easy steps:
1. Buy two flat sheets the same size as your comforter. For the best prices, try discount stores and white sales. If you’d like, decorate them with fabric paint.
2. Place the right sides of the sheets together, and sew straight lines down three sides
3. Turn inside out.
4. Attach closures—like Velcro, snaps, buttons, or grommets and ribbon—to the fourth side
5. Insert your old comforter, and admire your handiwork
For more inspiration and instruction, see the following websites:
How To Make Your Own Duvet Cover | eHow.com
Sew Your Own Duvet Covers | About.com
DIY Duvet Cover | care2.com
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By Frugillionaire
 Don’t pay for the services of an interior decorator. Instead, get a design education on a dime by browsing home décor magazines and websites.
It’s a wonderful way to learn basic decorating techniques—like how to combine colors, play with texture, lay out furniture, and create interesting visual displays.
In fact, you can even go so far as to copy an entire room. Just instead of buying the expensive designer goods, see how closely you can replicate the look with what you already own (or can acquire on the cheap).
Shelter magazines work with the hottest designers and stylists to create the interiors featured on their pages—giving you access to their expertise and creativity, without their consultation fees.
Better yet, save money (and trees) by skipping the magazines and getting ideas from the internet. Most home décor publications offer much the same content online, at no charge. And there are plenty of other websites devoted exclusively to the subject of interior design.
Try the following for inspiration:
Apartment Therapy
Design Sponge
Elle Décor
Homes and Gardens
Architectural Digest
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By Frugillionaire
 Save money by reducing the water and energy you use to do laundry. Here’s five ways to keep your clothes and linens clean, while slashing your utility bills:
1. Do full loads. Partial loads use the same amount of energy as full loads, and can also waste water.
2. Wash towels less often. They really don’t need laundering on a daily basis; let them go 3-4 days (or even a week) between washings.
3. Wash clothes less often. Instead of washing after each wear, air them out, and use the “sniff test” (or presence of stains) to determine when it’s time for a cleaning.
4. Wash clothes in cold water. Heating the water accounts for significant energy use. Use the cold setting instead; it’s sufficient for all but the dirtiest loads of laundry.
5. Air-dry. Hang a clothesline in the backyard (or use a drying rack indoors), and dry your clothes without spending a dime.
By Frugillionaire
 Your home is your castle—but it shouldn’t cost a fortune to insure it! Try the following techniques to lower your premiums, while still protecting your biggest investment:
1. Shop around. Research the best rates before committing to a policy. Online quote services make it easy to compare offerings from different companies.
2. Raise your deductible. Increasing your deductible can decrease your premiums by 10 to 30 percent. Just make sure you have enough money in an emergency fund to cover the higher amount.
3. Be loyal. Purchasing your automobile coverage from the same insurer can net you a 5 to 15 percent discount.
4. Review your riders. Don’t pay unnecessary premiums for items you no longer own, or those that may have depreciated with age (like computers and electronics).
5. Secure your home. Many companies offer discounts if your home is equipped with a burglar alarm, fire extinguisher, smoke detectors, deadbolt locks, or security system.
By Frugillionaire
 No sewing machine? No problem! You can still use fabric as a low-cost way to decorate your home.
Iron-on tape and fabric glue can be used to finish and secure edges, as well as add tassels, cord, and fringe for a decorator look. Velcro, and grommets and ribbon, make great substitutes for buttonholes. A staple gun is all you need to reupholster dining chairs.
Just remember, don’t blow your budget on expensive textiles. To keep costs down, buy discounted remnants, or use bed sheets and fabric paint.
Check out the following tutorials for some frugal, and fabulous, no-sew home décor projects:
How to Make No-Sew Pillow Covers | eHow.com
How to Make a No-Sew Slipcover | DIY Network
Padded No-Sew Headboard | HGTV.com
Easy No-Sew Window Treatments | BHG.com
Re-Upholstering Dining Room Chairs | ForDummies.com
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By Frugillionaire
 Being frugal doesn’t mean falling out of touch with friends and family. Here’s how to save on your phone bill, without losing contact:
1. Get a package deal. You may be able to save on telephone costs by bundling it with television and internet services.
2. Cut the frills. Drop the caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, voice mail, and other non-essential features.
3. Make calls over the internet. If you have a broadband internet connection, consider using Voice over IP (VoIP) service—offered by companies like Skype and Vonage—for long-distance calls.
4. Use prepaid phone cards. If you make long-distance calls infrequently, they can be more economical than a monthly service plan.
5. Lose the land line. If you have a cell phone plan with plenty of minutes, consider dropping the land line altogether. You can save $20-$30 each month.
By Frugillionaire
 Professional prints and paintings can cost a small fortune. Instead of paying a premium for wall art, use the ideas below to create your own. They’ll not only save you money; they’ll give your space a unique, creative, and highly personal look!
1. Decorate with photos. Mount in simple, identical frames, and group similar themes together (like family, landscapes, travel). Have them printed in black-and-white for a sophisticated, high-art look.
2. Decorate with illustrations. Print pictures from the internet, tear them out of old calendars, or copy them from vintage books. Hang them in frames, or from binder clips nailed to the wall.
3. Frame your collections. Use shadow boxes to display small items you’ve collected, like pressed flowers, postcards, matchbooks, or vintage keys.
4. Use fabric. Hang a quilt, tapestry, or area rug on your wall to create graphic and textural interest.
5. Use decals. Self-adhesive, large-scale wall stickers can add a bold, graphic look to any room.
By Frugillionaire
 Drip…drip…drip… Leaks can slowly, but surely, drain the contents of your wallet.
Here are five ways to keep them from wasting your money:
1. Fix leaky faucets. The most common cause is a worn-out washer, o-ring, or cartridge that simply needs to be replaced. Learn how to do it with this great article from This Old House:
Fixing a Leaky Faucet | This Old House
2. Check for toilet leaks. Just because the floor is dry doesn’t mean that all is well. Use this simple dye test to make sure:
How to Test a Toilet for Leaks | Toiletology.com
3. Check for stealth leaks. Leaks don’t always have a telltale drip. Here’s how to use your water meter to uncover those of a stealthy nature:
How to Test for Water Leaks | AcmeHowTo.com
4. Equip garden hoses with automatic shut-off nozzles. When you’re finished using them, turn them off at the tap and close the spigot tight.
5. Check for faulty pipes. If your water bills seem high, and you haven’t detected a leak in your house, call a plumber or your water company to check for faulty pipes.
By Frugillionaire
 Looking for a little extra dough to pay your bills, or pay down debt? Consider liquidating some of your unused, or unloved, possessions.
Here are some easy ways to gain some space in your home, and cash in your wallet:
* Have a yard sale. Increase the traffic (and fun) by inviting neighbors to join you.
* Sell through Craigslist.com. Online classifieds are a great way to sell furniture, lawn and garden equipment, computers, and electronics.
* Sell through Ebay.com. If you have more valuable or unique cast-offs, online auctions may yield the best price.
* Sell through Amazon.com. Sell your used books, CDs, DVDs, and other items through the retail giant’s Marketplace program.
* Sell through a consignment shop. Consignment shops are a great outlet for gently-used, brand name clothing.
By Frugillionaire
 Property taxes are a significant part of a homeowner’s monthly budget. Challenge your assessment, and you may be able to save hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars each year.
To be successful, you’ll have to show that your home has been overvalued. Take the time to research public property records. If comparable houses in your neighborhood have lower assessments, you have a strong case.
You may also be able to use a falling housing market to your advantage. Enlist the help of a real estate agent to prove that market values in your area have declined in recent months.
Finally, check if the assessor has made any errors in evaluating your property. If they’ve overstated the square footage, or number of bedrooms or bathrooms, you may qualify for a rate reduction.
For further insight into the appeals process, and advice on how to proceed, check out the following articles:
How to Reduce Your Property Taxes | BusinessWeek.com
Challenge Your Property Tax Assessment | The Motley Fool
How to Fight Your Ballooning Property Tax | MSN Money
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