You can’t wash your hands with anything cheaper than bar soap. But ick – that slimy soap scum floating in the soap dish. If you’re a clean freak and get some kind of kick out of removing that scum on a daily basis, then okay – stick with your bar soap. If, however, household cleaning of any sort is something you endeavor to do as little as possible, consider instead washing your hands with an inexpensive – and much neater – alternative. Shampoo!

In place of far more costly liquid hand soap, I’ve been washing my hands with shampoo for years now. And if you buy 15 or 16 ounces of shampoo on sale for less than a dollar, as I always do, you’ll be paying less than half the price of liquid hand soap.

The other plus along with saving money is the great selection of fragrances. Partial to coconut, I also like aloe and almond. I was surprised to discover that shampoo is easy on the skin too. Normally I buy a moisturizing shampoo, both for my scalp and mitts. This seems to contain just enough moisturizer to keep my hands from drying out, yet not so much it leaves them feeling sticky.

Shampoo also appears to cleanse hands every bit as thoroughly as soap. And, living in New York City with its’ over the top energy and who knows how many strains of world class germs and oddball bacteria lurking on every block, bus and subway, I wash my hands a lot. So far, nothing I have heard or read contradicts shampoo’s effectiveness at removing these big city germs.

To those who claim washing hands with anti-bacterial soap is superior for removing bacteria, I’ve heard Dr. Oz (an Oprah favorite) claim that isn’t so. Our bodies are covered, he said, with good and bad bacteria and the anti-bacterial soap unfortunately removes all the good bacteria with the bad. And we need that good bacteria to constantly battle the bad.

So spritz some nice smelling shampoo into your hands and give it a lather. Your nose, good bacteria and piggy bank will thank you.

When I was a fashion illustrator, one of my models, looking as usual like a million bucks, told me that she usually shopped for clothes in thrift shops. With that knockout recommendation, I finally ventured into a Goodwill thrift store in my neighborhood, plucked a navy blue Christian Dior blazer with a $6.00 price tag off a jam packed clothes rack and silently yelled “WOW”!

Shown here are some of the goodies I have unearthed in thrift shops over the years — some brand new, some barely used:

• Bracelets fashioned of vary-colored twisted metals – more refined versions of bracelets I saw in African markets. $2.00 each.
• One of three different Portuguese hand painted dishes that hang on my kitchen wall. $3.00.
• White cotton shower curtain sprinkled with multi-colored flowers in original package. $4.00.
• A box of coasters From the Museum of Metropolitan Art – a steal at a tiny fraction of their original cost.

At neighborhood thrift shops I have also been lucky to find:

• A blazing red Bognor ski jacket that kept me toasty warm against the iciest winds on walks around the reservoir. $8.00.
• Glass candlesticks embedded with hand blown teardrops: $6.00 each.
• A lush, black cashmere tunic cardigan $8.00.
• A weightless Natori caftan, perfect for travel. $6.00.
• Designer silk scarves for a fraction of their original cost.
• A Kenneth J. Lane gold and enamel bracelet for a few dollars.
• And most recently an Armani jacket for a big splurge of $25.
• Plus a zillion books and music CD’s and movie cassettes. Each costing a greenback or two.

Also a fan of thrifts, my sister made a great catch recently. Spotting a dull, blackened bracelet in a pile of costume jewelry, she looked on the inside and found the silver mark, “72.5” that she suspected might be there. It meant the bracelet contained 72.5% of silver. Once the ancient tarnish was removed, she had a glowing silver bracelet for the princely sum of $1.00.

I usually come up with my biggest hauls on Thursday and Friday nights, before the weekend hoards gallop in. And gallop in they do. These are the no-fooling-around Saturday-day-off-from-work shoppers determined to wrestle fashionable wardrobe bargains from their working sisters.

If you’re furnishing your first home or apartment on a budget, be sure to check out the thrifts before dropping your cash at full price stores. You may hit the jackpot with needed kitchenware, furniture, rugs, prints and posters and small appliances.

Keep in mind that not all visits will be successful. Sometimes you’ll walk away with a basket full of bargain goodies and sometimes you may not spot a single thing of interest. Thrifts feature an enormous variety of stuff to zip through, with quality ranging from dreary to dreamy. You need a speedy search technique to cover everything. Not places to linger, thrifts are places to zip in and zip out, hopefully carrying away some exciting gems found hidden in the jumble.

Let’s say your wallet contains a meager collection of moola. And you live in a smallish apartment or house that others call “cozy”. Or you have limited storage space—as in zero. And you need to store some items that absolutely cannot be squeezed into already jam packed cabinets, shelves, closets, under-bed-spaces and every other possible nook and cranny. Forget storage containers. Not enough floor space. Forget additional shelves. Not enough wall space. Forget cartons. Too depressing–plus too Collyer brothers (if you don’t know who they are and you’re a bona fide member of the pack-rat kingdom, better read up on them before it’s too late).

Enter king size bags…Not the gray plastic, bursting at the seams variety rolled around in shopping carts by the homeless. And not the big brown kind toted home with groceries. No, I’m talking about large, king size gift bags–bags constructed of strong, heavy weight paper in graphic patterns and fresh colors.

The large gift bag I have in my bathroom contains bottles, extra combs, toothbrushes, toiletry travel containers, surplus cosmetics and items I’m not too thrilled to have on display. It fits perfectly into a narrow little corner floor space that could have been designed for it. With its clean, upbeat design, it visually lights up that area. For practicality and a neat look, I snipped off the carrying cords and closed the bag top with clips.

My kitchen gift bag (containing a super duper size package of paper napkins, paper plates and cups) is filled to overflowing, but since it’s on top of a tall cabinet, no one can see all the items jammed inside and sticking out the top. Sandwiched between the wall and glass jars, not enough of the bag is visible to make it particularly noticeable.

I found these gift bags at the dollar store. At a buck a shot for a storage container, they are a great buy. And they’re practical too. Their glossy, heavy weight surfaces make them easy to dust and wipe with damp cloths. And when they wear out, all it takes is a single dollar to cart home another change of pace design.

The strong graphic designs that I prefer seem to be produced mostly in China. With so many of that country’s factories closing left and right these days, especially the ones catering to overseas exports, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the manufacturers producing these tough, good looking bags keep on humming.

More inexpensive storage ideas: Straw Basket Storage in the Bathroom. And another great Dollar Store find: Cape Cod Memories in a Dollar Jar.