Heather says:
Not all of these tips are suitable for every person, but they are a springboard to help readers find inspiration to tackle life in frugal ways. Every day we have a choice to “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
General cleaning:
- Plain white vinegar, water, and elbow grease can replace many commercial cleaning products.
- Cut old t-shirts into cleaning rags.
- Keep Lone Ranger socks on hand for extra nasty messes. If you would rather throw it away, there’s no loss.
- Sweeping costs nothing and prevents damage from tracked in dirt and grit, do it often.
- If you can’t ditch your Swiffer, use rags instead of the pads. Shake it outside before tossing it into the laundry.
General Cooking
- Watch your portions. Overeating is money down the toilet.
- Buy the spices you use most in bulk. Healthfood stores can be a source, as well as the ethnic aisles in the supermarkets.
- Reduce meat consumption by experimenting with meatless meals or by adding beans, rice, or oats to some recipes.
- Don’t waste leftovers, either store immediately or turn them into something else like Mustgo Soup.
- Check your pantry and fridge often for food that will soon expire or spoil and plan meals around these items.
At the Grocery Store
- Use a list and shop alone.
- Check the produce department for a quick sale bin. Many recipes do not need picture perfect vegetables. Freckled bananas taste better in oatmeal or banana bread.
- If you are disciplined, meat approaching its sell by date is often reduced, freeze or cook it immediately for big savings. Don’t buy it if you know you can’t use it quickly.
- Grocery stores aren’t always the best source for some items. Check the price of milk at drug stores and gas stations, some dry staples can be found at bargain stores such as Big Lots for significant savings.
- Check your receipt and don’t be afraid to mention errors, just be polite.
Entertainment:
- Use the library for books, DVDs, and music.
- Swap books and movies with friends.
- One word: POTLUCK for poker nights, girls nights IN, game nights, etc
- Learn to cook, this skill translates into savings, enjoyment and an ability to create gifts for others at minimal cost.
- For low cost entertainment try supporting your local highschool sports and theater. Who knows, someday you may get to say “I saw them when.”
Common Sense Energy Conservation, because sometimes we all need a quick reminder, best of all these ideas are all green:
- Turn off lights that aren’t in use.
- Turn off the tap when brusing teeth.
- Take shorter showers.
- Put on a sweater or use a ceiling fan before adjusting the thermostat.
- Walk around your home and check for appliances that use energy even when off. Unplug these items or use a power strip.
Can you add to the list?
Random Posts
Loading…
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
At the top of the list for saving at the grocery store. Do Not Grocery Shop on an empty stomach. If you’re not hungry, you’ll make fewer impulse purchases. It will be easier to ignore all the expensive goodies they’re trying to make you buy.
Under energy savings, I have to say that getting a programmable thermostat has saved us money. You can find them for less than $50 (ours was around $30) and average a savings of $100/year. We have our set to turn the temperature down a few degrees every 2 hours in the evening to encourage us to go to bed.
I installed a timed switch for our bathroom fan. My husband would turn it on and forget about it, and it would be pumping our cool air outside for hours, and make the a/c come on more often (south texas!), not to mention wasting all that electricity just by running. Now he can select it to run for 10 – 60 minutes and it automatically shuts off.
As for the grocery store: coupons are your best friend! If you know you use a lot of something (in my house, it’s cheerios) buy it when it’s on sale. We honestly have like 8-10 boxes at a time, but we have never paid full price. Paper products are also another thing we buy on sale, and then store them until needed (you should see our storage room sometimes, it’s crazy).
Always check prices vs. size. Sometimes the bigger jar is cheaper, sometimes not. Store brands are also great, and it’s usually the same thing. Depending on the grocery store, they run sales where if you spend so much you get a percentage off. When we get 20% off we stock up on the expensive stuff. We regularly save $20-$100 on groceries, it just takes a little more time!
Joyce, I absolutely agree! Everything looks much better when your stomach is rumbling.
Rebecca,
We ought to do that, but haven’t gotten around to it. Right now, I just try to keep the AC off as long as humanly possible. My goal is to make it until May. (I live in South Carolina and it gets warm early.)
Melissa,
That is brilliant. I use our upstairs shower and run the fan to clear the steam. I hate that trip back up the stairs and often get distracted. I’m going to look around for one.
Dani,
Coupons are definitely great in some circumstances. I have a hard time recommending them since we don’t use many of the products. The good thing is, there is no wrong way to approach frugality (well except when people try to scam or consistently make choices that have short term savings but long term costs).
During these economic times, you might figure you should just steer clear of areas in the grocery store like the gourmet cheeses, but it ain’t necessarily so. Since fewer people are buying these items, more of them end up staying around until the “sell by” date — and then they get marked down drastically.
Case in point: at Kennies’ in Gettysburg, on a day I hadn’t even planned to go shopping, but went in just because I was right there, I got some imported havarti that normally sells for $7.99 an 8oz package — for NINETY NINE CENTS. I bought five. And it’s gooooood stuff. Also got some feta crumbles for 99 cents – not such a drastic markdown, but still a way to afford something special that doesn’t normally fit the budget.
Thatbobbiegirl,
Nice find! I do love checking the clearance area at Target, too. You never know what you’ll find. I’ve also learned that just a taste of something really good can be more satisfying than a larger portion of something mediocre.
Before I make a grocery list, I make a menu. The menu forms the basis for my list. Having a menu that covers the next week or two allows me to figure out what I really need, not just keep my pantry full. This also helps keep me from calling up for pizza or going out to eat, because I have a plan for dinner and I have all the ingredients I need. I am also trying to only shop once a week.
Another rule of thumb I have is to NEVER buy something in bulk at a warehouse store unless I try it first. This has saved me from a number of expensive mistakes.
Check to see if any of your local grocery stores do price matching. This can allow you to get the deals from several different stores in only one stop. It is probably a good idea to go when they are not too busy as it takes a little longer to check out. This is a good way to stock up on items. I did this yesterday and saved about $20.
i try to save all of my trips to town for one day….then i travel out to the stop that is the farthest away from home, and work my way back to the homestead. this has saved me alot of time as well as gas. and if i need to fill up the tank while i am out i try to make that my last stop. if one or more of the stops is for grocery items i always make sure that if have some kind of container, box, or canvas bags with me including a small cooler type container.
We signed up for the TIME OF DAY plan with our electric company. In the winter….it is more expensive to use power from 5am to 9am and 5pm to 9pm. IN the summer it is more expensive to use power from 9am to 5pm (this is all DURING THE WEEK).
We save A LOT of money on this plan. Dishwasher, vacuum, washer and dryer NEVER get used during the expensive times…..and we try HARD to minimize oven use during this time, too!
We open the windows (at least two on opposites sides of the house, to create a cross breeze) at night on the cool nights and then close them first thing in the morning (it gets hot quick during the days) to try and keep the house cool as long as possible. We utilize ceiling fans and try to keep the thermostat turned down a few degrees when we aren’t home……
We are getting ready to enter expensive time for electricity in Phoenix and we are dreading it. I’m hoping this year we will be able to resist the temptation to durn down the thermostat more than last year. I have put up some sunblocker curtains that I am hoping, when drawn, will significantly reduce the sunlight coming in during the afternoon hours…..we shall see!
There are some wonderful tips there. We use lots of natural, low-cost household items to do our cleaning. It works great, saves money, and eliminates harmful chemicals from our home.
Love the tip about shopping with a list ALONE. It’s amazing how much additional “stuff” gets added to the grocery bill when you have three or four people tossing additional items into the grocery cart.
I’d add to your point about how “grocery stores aren’t always the best source for some items.”
Certain expensive necessaries like spices are preposterously overpriced in the grocery store because distribution of spices is controlled by just a few companies. You can save a lot of money on spices by shopping at local ethnic specialty food stores in your community. You might be shocked at the much lower prices for spices, and even better you’ll be helping a local entrepreneur.
This was an extremely useful post!
Dan
Casual Kitchen