You can do many pricey salon services at home. The results may not be salon perfect, but they may be good enough to hold you over between appointments. These DIY salon treatments are more easily done with the help of an extra pair of hands.

Hair

Buy a good pair of scissors from a beauty supply shop and trim your own hair. Youtube and many other sites offer easy to follow instructions on how to cut, color, and style hair. Enlist the help of someone else to color your hair; they’ll be able apply color to areas you might otherwise miss. Everything from mayonnaise to avocados can be used with a warm towel to condition hair. Pay a professional for more complex services such as highlights, bleaching, and perms.

Manis and Pedis

Schedule a weekly girl’s night to swap manicure and pedicure services. There are many quality nail products available that make doing your own nails at home easy. Pay a professional to do acrylic nails; the powders and resins used to apply them can be harmful if not used correctly. Have disinfectant available to clean shared manicure tools.

Facials

Everything you need for a DIY facial is likely in your kitchen. Oatmeal, yogurt, avocados, bananas, egg whites, and olive oil are just a few natural products you can use for a salon quality facial. Make your own toner with mouthwash or peroxide mixed with lavender water. Know your skin type and sensitivities when selecting DIY facial ingredients.

Eyebrows

Have a friend tidy up your eyebrows for you regularly, and you could save $30 a month. Use the same method you pay for at the salon. Many beauty supply stores sell eyebrow kits. You’ll save on the monthly salon cost, so splurge on the DIY tools to get the best results.

Make your own designer bottled water!

Stop spending big bucks on bottled water with these DIY suggestions for bottling your own designer water.

Au Natural

Use common ingredients from natural sources. Enhance the flavor of tap water and plain bottled water with lemons, limes, orange zest and other citrus fruits.

Stop throwing away over-ripe fruit; add diced apples, pears, cantaloupe and watermelon to make naturally sweetened water.

Sparkle

Add a tablespoon of seltzer or lemon-lime soda to give plain water a dash of carbonation.

Invest in a soda machine maker and use the carbonation function to cheaply make sparkling water.

Flavorful

Pass on pricey flavor additives for water. It’s easy to flavor water with fresh ginger, mint, vanilla, anise, fresh licorice, peppermint and other aromatics.

Brew cloves in hot water, dispose of cloves, bottle and chill water. Add a capful of reconstituted lemon or lime juice and a teaspoon of honey to water.

Avoid the bars and host your own March Madness parties to watch the games. Save big on bar tabs with these DIY suggestions for cheering on your favorite college basketball teams.

Jersey Party

Host a jersey party. Ask guest to wear their college basketball jerseys or the jerseys of the teams they are cheering for. Have an obscure jersey contest. Give a prize to the winner of the person who wears a jersey that is hard to find in your area. Scout secondhand stores and thrift shops for rare college jerseys for any sport.

Garage Tailgate Party

Weather providing, have a garage or backyard tailgate party. Fire up the grill, put the beer on ice and watch the game on your own big screen in the garage.

Bracket Club Party

The winners of each bracket have to host the next party, or pickup the tab at the bar.

Alma mater Road Trip

Plan an old school day trip to your alma mater. Hit the road with the gang and go back to the college town of your youth. Watch the games in the local bars with the students, and buy school jerseys for the kids at home.

DIY EZ Stairs Tutorial

EZ stairs allow a do-it-yourselfer to save both time and money with their stair installation system. Homeowners who want to build a set of stairs in their home will find EZ stairs kits at their website: ez-stairs.com. Installation of stairs can be a complicated matter of correct measuring, spacing and construction. The components within the EZ stair installation kit will eliminate complications homeowners associate with stair building. Homeowners will have a new set of stairs in no time when using the EZ stair system.

The EZ stair kit provides a fast and easy installation that will have homeowners jumping for joy. Usually traditional stairs have to have many stringers to support the stairs. Making a mistake while constructing stringer will often result in starting the project over. The EZ stairs use brackets, and they cut out a lot of time with no costly mistakes. EZ stairs only needs two outside stringers for support instead of the traditional method of middle stringers. The brackets also take less skill, so do-it-yourselfers will find EZ stairs an exceptionally attractive option.

Invite the gang over for an Election Day results watching party that won’t break your fiscal budget. While politicians can afford swanky, catered election night parties, you can have a fun party too with these DIY suggestions.

Constituents

Invite family, friends, and the neighbors to wear the T-shirts of their candidates or political party. Help the kids to make political yard signs and convention posters. Use this time to teach them the basics of the American election process and the value of voting.

Foodies

Make a buffet of the most popular foods and beverages found in the red and blue states. Have the kids to make snacks that would appeal to a donkey and elephant. Use blue food dye to color pastries, beverages, and hardboiled eggs. Buy political caricature cookies from the bakery or make a sheet cake that looks like the American flag.

Pollsters

Play political trivia games. Have guest bring their ballot booklets to keep track of the winners and losers. Give out maps of the United States and have guests predict which states will be red or blue after the votes are counted; give a prize to the winner. Do five-minute debates on local or state measures, and then vote on a winner.

You can jazz up the old laminate countertops in your kitchen by painting them. Start by scrubbing them down really well and then remove excess grime with an alcohol-based cleaner. Then, apply Aquabond as the primer and allow it to dry completely. You are now ready to paint the counter in any color melamine paint that you choose. Once it has dried thoroughly, you will need to coat it with at three coats of polyurethane to seal it.

Spicing up the bathroom is as simple as making your own custom towels. This might sound difficult, but all you need are some old towels, old sheets, and a sewing machine. Cut strips from the sheet and sew them along the edges of the towels. They will now have a matching and one of a kind look that serve both for function and decoration.

In the bedroom, you can make your own headboard from fabric to give your room a sophisticated and romantic look. You will need to install a drapery hook from the ceiling above the bed. Attach the long fabric to the hook and then drape it along the back of the bed to complete the look.

In the living room, you can make your own curtains from strips of ribbon. Choose at least three different designs or colors of ribbon and get several strips that are slightly longer than the windows. Allow them to drape to the windowsill and then tie the top ends to the curtain rods. Alternate the colors and designs for a funky look.

These are a just a few of the many DIY ideas that you can incorporate into your home. You don't need to have any special skills or artistic talents to take on these projects. They can all be completed in s short amount of time so don't lose your motivation or get overwhelmed either.

Shop dollar stores and the markdown shelves of discount stores for gift basket goodies. Listed are budget-friendly suggestions for specialized, DIY gift baskets.

Home Office

Fill a new wastepaper basket with stationary items from the dollar store. Calendars, desk supplies, note cards, appointment books, paperweights, and motivational art are ideal for this basket.

Kitchen Basics Basket

Use a colorful plastic bucket for this basket. Fill it with wooden spoons, cloth napkins, napkin rings, salt and pepper shakers, cooking utensils, aprons, dish towels, oven mitts, condiment containers, place mats, mixing bowls, and a paper towel holder.

Man Cave

A Styrofoam cooler is ideal for this basket. Add snack bowls, microwave popcorn, coasters, playing cards, beef jerky, beverage mugs, checkers, dominoes, and wildlife or sports artifacts.

Movie Night

Fill two large popcorn bowls with packages of microwave popcorn, red vines licorice, fruit rolls, string cheese, Milk Duds, juice boxes, and a pizzeria gift card.

Brunch Basket

Surround a bottle of sparkling cider or juice in a small wicker basket with cheese spread, butter cookies, jam, fresh fruit, and an assortment of flavored coffee creamers.

Add finding lost money to this New Year’s list of resolutions. Use the listed DIY suggestions to find extra cash in familiar places.

Work Bennies

Adjust your W-4 tax exemptions in January and get a mini raise by paying less income tax on earnings. But, remember to reduce the number of exemptions later in the year to avoid owing taxes next April.

Make cost-reduction changes to health coverage during the plan’s open enrolment period. Reduce coverage and cost of employer provided life insurance plans.

Use found money from other employer benefits to meet the company’s matching contribution to retirement plans.

Tax Time

Visit the irs.gov website in advance of preparing taxes. Look for information about exemptions and credits that can reduce tax debt. Make a list of tax filing questions for tax preparers. File taxes early to receive refunds quicker or to avoid late fees on taxes owed.

Wall Street

Ask fund administrators of investment groups for information on managing retirement portfolios. Request a free fund comparison from a competing investment firm, before rolling over to a new plan.

Gifted

Sell gift cards online for cash or exchange them for a store credit before they lose their original value. Sell old items, cameras, phones, televisions, and game systems, replaced by newly gifted ones. File for rebates before they expire and verify the terms of credit card reward programs.

Held every four years the World Cup soccer games are watched by fans around the globe. Avoid the crowds and cost of watching the game at a sports bar with these budget-friendly suggestions for a DIY World Cup Viewing party. Goalie

Invite guests to show team spirit by wearing the national colors, T-shirts, scarves, and other fan gear of the team their cheering for. Provide guests with a list of team stats, history, and each player's country of origin. Decorate with paper flags and streamers in the colors of the teams playing the day of your viewing party. DVR the game if you can’t watch it in real time and play it back the day of the party. Even if you know the outcome of the game, watching it with friends is still exciting. International Fare

Serve food and beverages from the countries playing the day of the viewing party. Visit the gourmet section of a major grocery store for recipe ideas. Look online for popular alcoholic drink recipes of other countries. Most packaged good stores have spirits from beer to liquor from around the world. Team Spirit

Play trivia games about the competing soccer teams. Each team has a nickname, have guests to match nicknames to countries. Give winners soccer ball key chains or toy trophies. Get guests cheering for both teams by assigning them to a team with a coin toss or straw pull. Take cash bets and give the pot to the winning team to divide.

Save money on Christmas Day gifting, dinner, and entertainment with a DIY Christmas Eve celebration instead. Use the listed suggestions for a budget-friendly Christmas Eve party. Wrap It Up

Invite guests to bring wrapping paper gifts and a potluck dish. Crank up a CD of Christmas Rap songs and traditional holiday favorites to sing along with while wrapping gifts. Swap wrapping paper with each other to mix things up. Silent Night

Host a caroling party. Print the lyrics of classic Christmas songs for family and friends. Serve guests a hot entrée of soup or chili, before heading out for some old-fashioned Christmas caroling. Return home for hot toddy, cocoa, and eggnog. Tree Trimmers

Trim the tree with a little help from your friends. Order Chinese takeout or pizza and setup the tree. Play Christmas music, string popcorn, and help the kids make handmade ornaments with art paper and glitter. Do a gift grab bag exchange or give each guest a keepsake ornament to take home. Ugly Sweater Party

Host an ugly sweater party on Christmas Eve. Have a contest for the ugliest sweater. Give the winner a wrapping paper organizer or a basket of Christmas bows, ribbons, tape, and gift tags (available at dollar stores). Take a group photo and post it to social media websites. Buy a bucket of chicken with sides, and serve with soft drinks, beer, and eggnog.

Light up any area of your yard with a great selection of DIY solar lighting. With no running wires and no increase in power bills, solar lights provide bright lighting or decorative lighting where it is needed most. Light up the driveway or front walk, or plan on helping the environment by using solar Christmas lights.

Spot lights, flood lights and deck or path lights can turn your landscape into a safe but elegant nighttime garden. Run the wireless Malibu Carriage solar lights along paths to invite others to stroll through the garden at night. Highlight planted areas with the crackle glass garden globe set. Save energy, but safely light the way to the front door with motion-sensor Pagoda lights. These lights only turn on when they detect motion so the neighbors are not annoyed.

Look for spot lights that accent garden elements at night, lighting up the driveway or lighting your house numbers. Spot lights are available in packs of two, or try the solar rock spotlight that is part of the landscape during the day. Buy colored LEDs to insert into your spot lights for a colored display. Solar security lights can light up those dark areas and deter bad activity. Keep thieves away from your home with a well-lit yard. Try a motion detection solar security light on outbuildings, or at the entrance to your property. Feel safer with lighting placed in all the right spots.

Power down this Christmas, but still create an elegant winter wonderland with solar Christmas lights. Set up a display anywhere with a sun-charged string of 60 lights. The 26 foot length of lights turns on automatically at dusk and runs for approximately eight hours. Your holiday spirit is no longer limited to outlets and extension cords.

For a great project, consider DIY solar lighting. Look through a variety of products to find the best lighting to brighten, highlight or emphasize your yard.

A few coats of new paint can help you to quickly renovate a room in your home in a matter of hours. While painting a room may seem like a small project, in comparison to replacing kitchen countertops, the savings and the sense of pride you’ll feel for having done it yourself will give you the confidence to tackle larger DIY projects.

There are a variety of techniques for the physical application of getting the paint from the can to the wall, and with experience you’ll find a technique that works best for you. Regardless, of the technique you use there are some basics for painting that can save you time and make the overall process more manageable.

Step 1. Prepping the room before you paint it is ideally done the day before you paint. Remove furniture or move it to the center of the room and cover it with an old sheet or plastic dropcloth. Use blue painters’ tape to mask off windows, door frames, baseboards, ceilings, light switches and other details that you don't want to paint. Wipe down the walls with soapy water to remove dust and dirt.

Step 2. Make sure you have all the tools you need into the room. Once you get started you don't want to waste time and energy cleaning out the garage to find the roller extender that you need to paint the ceiling.

Step 3. Read and follow the instructions on the paint can for achieving the best results. Start with the ceiling and work your way down to the walls, finishing with the baseboards. There are a number of tools available for applying paint from basic brushes to electric sprayers. Choose the tool that best fits the size of the job and your experience level.

Step 4. Clean up while the last coat of paint is drying. Quality tools require quality care. Soak brushes in warm water to remove paint, hang to dry. Use a rubber mallet to reseal the lid on the paint can; store unused paint in a cool, dry place.

Tips:

• You’re saving money by not hiring a professional painter to do the job, so buy the best paint, brushes, rollers, and tools that you can afford. Quality tools are a good investment, because you won't have to spend money replacing them as often and they can help you to achieve professional looking results. .

• Sponge, glaze, stencil and other types of decorative applications can be costly and time consuming, so research how to do them first. Find a DIY video online or inquire at a local hardware store about a free demonstration of the process. In

Enjoy the Kentucky Derby less the cost of travel, admission, and expensive accommodations with the listed suggestions for a DIY Kentucky Derby party. Home Stretch

Invite friends and family over for a Kentucky Derby potluck party the afternoon of the races. Serve guests popular Derby drinks made with Kentucky bourbon, mint juleps, sweet tea, green Jell-O shots, and soft drinks. Green is the color of the Derby. Decorate with green tablecloths, paper plates, and plastic ware. Ask guests to wear elaborate Derby-worthy hats. Buy blue ribbons, play money, and miniature trophies from a party store. Award first, second, and third place ribbons for the hat competition. Provide guests with the handicap stats for the horses and take bets with real or play money. Watch Secritariat or other popular horse movie before the races begin. Track Side

Enjoy the Kentucky Derby with a large crowd of racetrack fans at an offsite betting parlor, sports bar, or local casino. Or months before the race book discount travel and hotel accommodations in Las Vegas or Atlantic City for a weekend of gambling fun. Organize a Kentucky Derby fundraiser at your place of worship. Ask parishioners to donate stylish hats for a silent auction and sell raffle tickets for cash prizes.Sell lime sherbert parfait, alcohol-free mint juleps, and popular Derby eats. Donate the proceeds from the food, auction, and raffle to the church or other nonprofit organization.

Avoid pay for work scams that cost you time and money. Use the listed DIY suggestions for creating real work at home.

Homework Check free work-at-home listings online, before paying for access to work at home websites. Popular sites like craigslist.com are free to browse and offer many of the same types of opportunities on job boards that charge a fee. Be very wary of work-at-home offers that allude to big pay for easy tasks like filling out surveys or doing reviews. Know the difference between a work from home offer and a business opportunity. Multilevel marketing programs that sell services or products generally require a monetary investment and lots of training, with no promise of a salary. Even if the offer is free, get the facts to determine if the pay is equal to the effort. Check with the Better Business Bureau for a rating on the company, and if it has any complaints and if they were resolved.

Network It’s free to send an email to family, friends, and former co-workers about the type of work at home you’re available to do. Be specific about your skills and rate of pay. These details make it easy for them to refer you to others who may need your services. Take out a small ad in your neighborhood paper and post a flyer with your info in Laundromats and similar public places near your home. Invest in business cards and ask local businesses if you can post them on bulletin boards in their public areas. Expand your marketing reach for free. Every month include your business card or flyer inside snail mail bills, donations to charity, and all other mail you send out.

Senior care savings!

Before using the hard earned savings of aging parents on a costly residential care facility consider the listed suggestions for DIY senior care at home.

House Calls

Make an appointment with the parent’s doctor to get a thorough understanding of his physical and mental health. Share you concerns about the parent’s ability to live independently with the doctor, and ask for her advice on what level of daily care is appropriate at this time for your parent.

Home Alone

Get professional assistance. Hire a retired nurse, emergency medical technician (EMT), or similar medical professional to care for the senior at home.

Check with state agencies for homecare providers that assist seniors with errands, housekeeping, and transportation. Enroll seniors who meet state income qualifications in meals-on-wheels programs.

Contract with an on-call medical alert provider that responds to medical emergencies--like falling and can’t get up.

Relativity

Ask family members to assist in the care of seniors who can live independently with minimal care. Have a plan that includes telephone calls, regular visits, and wellness checks to the senior.

Enlist older grandchildren to help grandparents with house cleaning, running errands, and accompanying them to church and other activities.

Ask family members to make note of unusual behavior, a change in appearance, or personality changes with the senior. Share this information with other caregivers and the senior’s physician.

Senior Moment

Support elderly parents with activities and companionship. Ward off depression and other age related maladies by keeping the senior engaged in life.

Encourage parents to participate in senior day care programs, senior centers, church, and other hobbies. These activities help seniors to stay mentally alert and physically active; helping them to extend their savings with more years of independent living.

Make the most of your empty nest by turning what was once a child’s bedroom into a new living space with the listed DIY suggestions. Convertible

A guest bedroom is ideal for this space and it requires minimal changes to the furniture already in the room. A guestroom also doubles as a convertible space your college student can continue to use as a bedroom when he comes home on breaks. Make the transition easy. Help the child to pack and store posters, trophies, sports gear, and other memorabilia he wants to keep, donate everything else to a local charity. Give the room a fresh coat of paint and replace the linens, bedspread, and window treatments with gender-neutral appointments. Refurbish the desk with a coat of shellac and turn a footlocker into a storage space for extra blankets, pillows, and other guest necessities. Home Office

You don’t need a home business to enjoy the convenience of a home office. Replace the bed with a sleeper sofa. Use the desk to house the home computer, a fax machine, printer, and a place for how-to manuals and similar items. The closet is perfect for storing holiday supplies or extra linens. Media Room

Replace the bed with comfy recliners and a loveseat. Install shelving or an entertainment center. Add a mini fridge, flat screen TV, gaming systems, stereo, and surround sound speakers. Decorate with movie posters and sports memorabilia. Fitness Den

Cancel your gym membership. Replace all the bedroom furniture with fitness equipment and a scale. Leave a space for yoga or floor exercises. Hang a black board for tracking fitness goals and motivational posters to keep you moving.

Skip the expensive admission cost of Halloween themed amusement parks and fun houses, with these easy DIY activities. And they give older children, who have outgrown trick-or-treating, a way to be part of the festivities—as haunted house guides, goblins, and ghosts.

Spooky Fun House

Plan a Halloween block party with your neighbors. Use garages and backyards to stage grave yards or pumpkin patches with live goblins, ghosts, and good witches as guides to assist smaller kids with activities. Place ghostly hosts along the route where kids collect a trick or a treat by doing a task like telling a joke or answering a riddle.

Halloween Carnival

Get permission from the city to use a local field house and adjacent park for a Halloween carnival. Use older kids in costumes as carnival attendants. Setup card tables with games; include activities like dunking for apples, pumpkin decorating, a pumpkin pie eating contest, trick-or-treat bag decorating, costume competitions for all ages, and refreshment stations. Fill small wagons with hay to give small trick-or-treaters rides around the park.

Day Trips

Arrange a day trip with a group from church or school to a pumpkin patch, hay ride, or corn maze. Let the kids wear their costumes and play games to win prizes of Halloween toys and candy.

Walking Ghost Tour

Accompany older kids on a walking ghost tour Halloween night. Many cities have tales of famous hauntings, legendary ghost sightings, and establishments believed to be haunted. These tours are generally guided and are budget-friendly. Reservations may be required, and tipping the guide at the end of the tour is appropriate.

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With some common household items you can make a DIY disaster preparedness kit. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters often happen without warning, which is why having a disaster preparedness kit is essential.

Listed are some basics items that should be included in a disaster preparedness kit. Adjust quantities of food and water to meet the specific size of your household.

Containers

Use a sturdy, weatherproof container like an aluminum or rubber trash can to hold the majority of your emergency supplies. Store this container in area where it is easily accessible if you should need it. Use smaller, multipurpose containers like a Styrofoam chest or bucket to store small supplies and food inside the larger container.

Supplies

Flashlights, batteries, blankets, battery operated candles and radio, whistles, glow sticks, change of clothes, matches or lighter, bungee cords, first aid kit, small stronghold box to stash important documents, prescriptions, and emergency cash or credit card, plastic bags, and plastic rain ponchos.

Food

Fill the Styrofoam chest with bottled water, high protein foods like tuna fish, sardines, nuts, beef jerky, instant oatmeal, canned beans, soups, and canned chili. Also include snack size containers of apple sauce or fruit cups, cheese sticks, fruit rollups, and peanut butter crackers. Choose food stuffs that don’t require refrigeration, have a long shelf-life, and are packaged in containers that don’t require a can opener.

Tips: Use annual date like day lights saving time to check the expiration dates of food in your disaster preparedness kit. Replace old batteries with new ones.

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Are you a weekend warrior looking to learn something new while improving your home and saving money in the process? If your bathroom is in need of repair, why not remodel it yourself? You can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by doing it yourself, and you can add value to your home at the same time. Remodeling your bathroom is actually not as hard as it sounds; in most cases, most of the groundwork is already in place, leaving you with the relatively simple task of updating fixtures or laying down new flooring. Sound like something you would like to do? Then get started!

The first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to change--what do you want to upgrade or replace? A good way to visualize this is by visiting your local hardware store, like Lowe's or Home Depot, and perusing their selection of DIY books. You can thumb through some magazines and get ideas on what is hot and new along with a needs list for how to complete the job. If you are short on time or would rather not invest in books, why not go online and look for websites that have pictures of remodeled bathrooms? In most cases, you can view these sites for free and still get plenty of ideas and pictures to satisfy your curiosity. You are sure to get some ideas that you want to incorporate into your own bathroom. The possibilities are endless.

Imagine the joy of remodeling your bathroom and the pride of knowing that you saved money and brought more value to your home with your very own "sweat equity." Nothing beats that!