I found this tip on Trent Hamm's The Simple Dollar, where he was reviewing The Reader’s Digest Penny Pincher’s Almanac. I have yet to try this bit of advice, but if it works, think of how much time it will save! Not only that, but it requires one less gizmo to have lying around the house, waiting for a pilling sweater. Note: do not try this with cashmere, unless you have money to burn.


Use sandpaper to keep sweaters and sweatshirts pill-free. (p. 61) Trent says, "I had a bunch of old sweaters and sweatshirts that looked very nasty from the number of little balls of lint that had appeared all over them. A bit of rubbing with some medium-grain sandpaper and those pills came right off, making the clothes look like new."


Personally, I have never tried this, but I really wish I'd known about this trick before my parents had my two sisters and me pick thousands of tiny pink lint balls off of a fuzzy bathrobe. It would have saved so much time.

The Reader’s Digest Penny Pincher’s Almanac also recommends that you Look into medical school clinics for inexpensive but quality health care. (p. 310) Trent adds that "here in Iowa, we’re lucky – the University of Iowa Medical School runs a stellar clinic with reasonable prices, and it’s often considered the place for medical treatment in the state. If you need a medical checkup, see if there’s a clinic offered by a medical school near you." Personally, this is one tip that I'm definitely going to try, now that I no longer live out in the boondocks.


I've found that the same principle holds true for haircuts. Beautician training schools have many students that need to complete a certain number of supervised haircuts before they can be certified. Visit a beautician training school for low cost haircuts---this is perfect for children's haircuts, which occur so frequently that poor results are short lived.