10 skills you wish you'd learned

By Melinda Fulmer

How hard can it be to sew on a button or iron a shirt? Not that hard, actually. But for years, many of us outsourced those and other basic life tasks to others. With cash flowing freely, we didn't feel the need to fend for ourselves.

Now, however, many of us are relearning those skills taught in high school home economics -- things so basic it sounds a little pathetic -- like how to fold clothes, cook dinner and clean. (Demand is also surging at the country's only escape-and-evade class, in case society takes a lawless turn, but that's another story.)

Given our newfound interest in self-reliance, what basic knowledge should every adult have? A cadre of home economics teachers offered a short list of things we should all know how to do when we grow up. And it turns out they now teach kids about more than cooking and ironing.

Here's what they came up with:

1. Make minor sewing repairs or alterations

No, you don't need to sew your own suits or make decorative throw pillows. But for only $2, you can buy a sewing kit and be your own tailor -- sewing on buttons, mending rips and hemming pants (a sewing machine does this particular job a little better, but it's not a necessity).

Knowing how to add an extra hook to a pair of pants or to correct a gap in a blouse can make them fit better, so you'll wear them more. Learn how by watching video at sites like eHow.

Cost of a sewing kit: $2

Cost to replace buttons on a shirt: $6

Professional hemming: $9-$12

2. Craft a household budget and balance a checkbook

Many of us fail to reconcile our bank statements -- even though software like Quicken and free budgeting sites like Mint.com make it a snap. Even fewer of us bother to save our debit card receipts and record those transactions.

But that's something Tanya Wright of Pitman High School in Turlock, Calif., teaches her students in a "Life Management" course, as a way to live within your means and guard against fraud.

Looking for an easy way to budget? Read "How much should you spend?" and "10 ways to simplify your financial life."

Cost savings: Around $27 per overdraft charge.

3. Make soup

When the going gets tough, the tough go back in the kitchen. Certainly everyone should be able to read a recipe and know a teaspoon from a tablespoon. If you don't, head to your library and pick up a classic like "Joy of Cooking." But every home cook should also have a repertoire of dishes that deliver the biggest economic bang for the buck.

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Soups and one-dish meals -- the staples of home-ec cooking -- let you do more with less. One key is using less meat and more vegetables, plus rice or pasta, to stretch the meal.

The basis of most soups is a simple "mirapois," a fancy term for a 2-1-1 combination of onions, carrots and celery. Add stock, garlic, beans, veggies or meat and you've got a meal, says Sandi Coulter, home-ec teacher at San Juan High School in Citrus Heights, Calif. Also see "20 healthy foods that cost less than a buck."

Cost of a big pot of lentil vegetable soup and a loaf of French bread: 75 cents/serving.

Cost of a can of Progresso Lentil: $1.79/serving.

4. Comparison shop at the grocery store

Getting a good buy at the grocery store or warehouse club depends on your ability to discern the true deal, rather than leap at the lowest price. (See "Secrets of superstar grocery shoppers" and "5 best -- and worst -- Costco deals.")

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"I am amazed at how many people don't take the time to actually look at the per-unit price between the store brand versus the name brand, which screams 20% more," says MSN Money message board contributor Carefreeap. "It may only be a little bit of money each visit, but over a lifetime it can make a big difference."

Cost savings by comparison shopping: hundreds of dollars a year.

Continued: Take care of your own wardrobe

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