In these tough economic times, you can get a real bang for your buck just by keeping a stock of aspirin around the house. In their home remedy handbook, OptingHealth – Choosing Health in the Modern World, Reader’s Digest has come up with a plethora of ways to get the most out of this cheap and handy painkiller. Here are 6 tricks of the trade:

Stain Remover

We’ve all been there: You just bought the perfect white tee only to have it ruined after the first wear from unsightly yellow underarm stains. Don’t fret, just head for your medicine cabinet. Because aspirin is a weak acid, it works wonders on removing stubborn stains. All you have to do is dissolve two tablets in 1/2 cup of warm water, soak the stained area in the mixture, and leave for a few hours before washing.

Skin Remedy

The next time your hormones wreck havok on your skin and leave you with a dreaded breakout, try using aspirin as an on-the-spot blemish treatment. Aspirin can be used as an astringent so it can help to reduce redness and shrink pimples. Just crush up a tablet and add a bit of water until you get a paste. Apply the mixture directly onto the blemish, leave on for a few minutes, and then rinse with water.

Bug Bite Reliever

Mosquito bites and bee stings can be the bane of summer vacations. But before you start scratching or picking those annoying bites, use aspirin to relieve the itching and to control inflamation. First, wet the infected area with water, then rub a tablet over the infected area. Instant relief.

Hair Colour Restorer

While swimming is the summer activity of choice for many, the chlorine-filled pools can often leave a difficult to remove green tint in blonde hair. Unless you enjoy your new hair colour, try using aspirin to neutralize the chlorine and bring your hair back to its former glory. For a get-the-green-out hair mask, dissolve 8 tablets in a cup of warm water, massage throughout your hair, leave on for 10 to 15 minutes, and then rinse.

Flower Revitalizer

The age-old secret ingredient of florists everywhere, aspirin can go a long way to extend the longevity of your pretty petals. The aspirin dilates the stem and allows more fluids to pass upwards to the flowers, and its acidity prevents the growth of bacteria in water. Just add a crushed tablet to the water in your vase and watch your flower arrangement stay bloomed for days longer.

Dandruff Reliever

There is no woe worse than finding a sprinkle of white flecks all over your favourite black outfit. To banish those blasted dandruff flakes, just add one or two crushed aspirin tablets to your shampoo, leave the mixture on your scalp for a few minutes so the product can absorb, and rinse well. This works because aspirin contains salicylic acid–the main active ingredient in most anti-dandruff shampoos.