4. Before you make a purchase ask yourself, "Does this match my wardrobe in terms of color, style and price? Is this on my needs list? How versatile is this item? How many ways can I wear it?"

5. Shop first at high-end mass merchants, outlet malls, and off-price stores for basics such as tees, shirts and pants. You'll then have more money for seasonal updates such as jackets or accessories.

Use broken tiles to make a mosaic table for porch, or create mosaic stepping stones for yard. You could even update a tired old picnic table with tiles. Create a wood plaque with scrap wood, glue or paint your house #,s on it, and add mosaic tiling around border for a very expensive look.

If you can find a fencing company willing to give you their discards, make garden posts for hanging lanterns or plants from posts. Be sure to cement these in ground. Use boards to make rustic planters, or cut them down to make picket style garden fencing. Make an shingle style mailbox.

Vinyl flooring scraps can be made into floorcloths for your porch or patio with a little paint and polyurethane, and can be as decorative or as simple as you want, custom matching your homes colors and styles.

As you can see, with a little bit of hunting, you can find materials to make exterior of your home look like a masterpiece for almost no money, and you are saving a lot of good materials from our waste dumps!

Copyright 2002 K. Wilson