It’s time for another roundup of money-saving lists, with places to eat for free, household items you can recycle lickety-split for cash, and some unusual schemes—like taking advantage of your local library’s lost and found to snag a free umbrella.
3 Ways to Avoid Overdraft Fees. For one thing, credit unions and small banks make it easy for you to opt out of “overdraft protection,” which can whack you with big fees, and which the vast majority of customers don’t want in the first place.
3 Places to Eat for Free. Kids eat for free at Chevy’s on Tuesdays and at Boston Market any day through October. Everyone can get a free breakfast at IKEA this weekend.
8 Restaurant Ploys to Watch Out For. Some restaurants charge for things that customers assume are free, like water and bread.
10 Tips for Learning to Cook from Scratch. If you don’t know how to cook, you’re spending on a lot more money on food than you need to. There’s no need to be intimidated. And you can save a ton.
15 Household Items You Can Recycle for Cash. Plastic bottles and aluminum cans, obviously, but also empty printer cartridges, cell phones, car batteries, and more.
19 Free Web Services That Keep Saving You Money. From PCWorld.
21 Ways to Get Something for Nothing. By way of the Chicago Tribune.
30 Fabulous Freebies from Kiplinger.
51 Unusual Money-Saving Tips. From the readers of WiseBread.com. And yes, they are unusual, like turning old wine into vinegar, snagging (stealing?) a free umbrella from the library’s lost and found, planting fake flowers (which need no water or maintenance) in your yard, and training your cat to use the toilet.
101 Ways to Take a Bite Out of Your Food Budget. Probably could have been boiled down to 15 or so, but good tips to keep in mind while browsing the grocery store aisles nonetheless.
Read more: A List of Money-Saving Lists: 422 Ways to Save in Total