Keep cold from coming through the door

The old dollar bill trick - putting a dollar in the door of the refrigerator and closing it, then seeing if it pulls out - works on exterior doors on your home, too. (You can substitute a piece of plain paper.) Hold a paper on the door frame and close the door. If it falls to the floor or comes out easily when you tug gently on it, put in new weather stripping. If it resists coming out, the door fits the frame close enough to keep out the winter cold.

There's more to canned food than food

If you use food from cans (and who doesn't, now and then, anyway), don't just toss the can when it's empty. Whether it's a small can, like a tuna or cat food can, or a large one, the label is paper. Tear it off, trim the ragged torn edges and there you have a piece of paper for lists or notes.

Then wash and use the can to hold other things from candles to pencils to paint brushes. More on tuna and cat food cans later.

Make your own recipe cards

You don't have to buy those packages of recipe cards; you can cut any paper to fit a recipe box - even scrap paper. Colored paper is nice, since it's often a little stiffer than regular paper. Think: Recycled junk mail! You can also make tabs to organize your "cards." Glue them on, or cut a special card from pasteboard or heavy paper with a tab on it.