Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Unplug any electronic that you aren't using and that doesn't need to be reset if it is without power. We've saved a lot by unplugging the toaster, iPod charger, etc.

 

[semo233]

My appliance repair man told me to poor some white vinegar in the bottom of my dishwasher and run it thru empty to clean it out

My neighbor is an appliance repairman and says Tang cleans the drum...it is the citric acid. Does the vinegar remove any stains or just mineral build up?

 

[plummer925]

I am SO thrilled to see this thread back on page 1! I responded to it 3 YEARS ago!! I just re-read through all 94 pages (whew!)

I have a couple new ideas!

First - many people are talking about Brillo & SOS pads - cutting them in half, storing in the freezer, etc. Here's an idea that I don't THINK was mentioned (but I may have missed it!). Before you use it for the first time, put one of the pads (I do NOT cut them) in a plastic container with a lid that is watertight (I personally use Tupperware). Cover with HOT HOT HOT water (the hottest it will come out of your faucet, or even boil some!). Make sure to put enough in so the pad is completely covered. Put the cover on the container and let it sit for a day or so - you will find that the water reacted with the detergent in the pad to form a marvelous slime - this slime is super-concentrated and gets out the toughest messes. Plus - a huge bonus - when you use the pad, rinse it, then put back into the "slime" - as long as it's not touching air it will not rust! This should last a few weeks with regular use!!

---------

We recently inherited a home and moved into it. I was having a "fit" about one thing at this new house - our hot water is heated from the furnace, meaning we have to use oil to heat it (at what $3.65 a gallon, 100 gallon minimum delivery) eek. It doesn't heat the house, only the tank. Well, it turns out it's a TINY tank (like 20 gallon or something like that) and we have experimented - it takes only 20-25 minutes to heat it (and once heated, without use, gets cool again in an hour). So we now keep our circuit-breaker in the "off" position unless we know we need to use hot water. We could hear the burner turning on at least 8 times a day, but if it cooled within an hour, it probably turned on 24 times a day!

I do not use hot water daily (we shower every other day or every third day). It is only 2 of us so even dishes do not have to be done on a daily basis. This is going to save us tons of money!

 

[hsmamato2]

I pour vinegar into the 'rinse-aid' section of dishwasher(instead of jetdry) a while back it was acting all funky and not cleaning, I bought a jar of straight citric acid in the canning section of Walmart for about 3.00- used 1/2 the jar in the bottom of dishwasher and ran an empty cycle....it cleaned out whatever was blocking it!
It's the 'secret' ingredient in those bottles of dishwasher cleaner....and far more concentrated for the money-

 

[Zhoen]

... and yes, I have no life, but I also read this thread years ago, so I had a head-start.

Some things I know weren't anywhere in here... because I read it... ouch...

- I have a "gift closet." It is an entire closet in our home-office, where I keep all the rolls of gift-wrap, the cards you only use one from the pack of 8, the ribbon that would otherwise get tangled and ruined, etc. This is also where I stash things all year for gift-giving events like the winter holidays. Gently used gift bags go in here until I can re-use them, too. Right now next year's valentine's day cards are hanging in plastic bag from a hanger pushed to the left and stuff for stockings is slowly building up on the right.

Which leads me to my MOST IMPORTANT HINT!!! -- put a LOCK on it!!! It doesn't save you any money if the kids steal it or wheedle it from you... Also helps preserve the element of surprise.

Also in my home office, I have big book shelves, and when we get big cardboard boxes during the year, I fold them flat and hide them behind the bookshelves (we don't have a garage,) those save me about $3.50 each when I need big boxes for shipping at Christmas time.

Whenever we find food we like at a restaurant, I try to make a copycat of it... example-- I LOVE the carne asada at a gut truck near my work... but not enough to drive 28 miles from home on the weekends and pay $10/plate... and I love potato salad at Red Hot and Blue, but the rest of the meal is nothing special, so I figured out how to copy it... We still eat out (too much), but it could be worse.

Speaking of which, after a trip to a museum and a scene in a movie led to a discussion of the concept of war rationing, I finally found a way to cut back on my daughters' fast food addiction. They get one "ration" per week that we can use anywhere they want... DD5 usually uses hers the moment the week rolls over (she's crazy for McD's french fries), but DD8 saves it until she's really in the mood. We have a long drive home every day, and it wasted a lot of money getting drive through EVERY day...

Whenever we make spaghetti (pretty much once a week) we always have leftover spaghtti sauce, so I freeze whatever is left, and keep adding to the bottle/can whenever we have more left-over. When the jar gets full, I either use it for more spaghetti, or make a lasagna (substitute dandelion greens (only chem free!!!) for the spinach, no one will ever know!). Leftover salsa, taco meat, teetering-on-the-edge tomatoes, and the extra liquid from canned tomatoes go together in a container that turns into chili once it's full--oh, leftover manwich goes in the chili dish, too-- chili pepper is a STRONG flavor and covers a lot! That last serving of chili then goes into a chili-mac casserole... you get the point.

One thing that people touched on, but I'll highlight it-- I *LOVE!!!* my meat slicer. I pondered getting one for literally 15 years before I finally took the plunge, then bought it half-price and with a %off coupon... Love, love, love! I'll make a roast beef for dinner, then slice the leftovers uber-thin for sanwiches, or thicker to freeze in gravy for an instant dinner later on. Turkey breast and ham are also much cheaper to roast at home and then slice, and you can do a bunch at once and freeze them in small packages. But you also can semi-freeze chicken breasts and raw beef and get perfect, thin slices for stir-fry or beef jerky, perfect slices of cheese and tomatoes for sandwiches (thinner goes farther!), and thin-slice stale bagels to make bagel chips (brush with olive oil, sprinkle with seasoning, and toast like you're making croutons!)

I'm not advocating buying something full-priced right now, but try asking on freecycle or try ebay or yard sales... or save up and get one on sale... I love mine, and use it for my whole (extended) family all the time. Then I clean it with-- you guessed it, VINEGAR!!!

I also have a food dehydrator... we don't use it much except when the apples start falling on our heads, but it's also good for beef jerky (which you can make in your oven, btw)... This is a great use for the roast beef you accidently over-cook (we love our beef still moo-oo-ing...) Either slice it thin and make beef jerky, or cube it and simmer it for beef stew...

Also, we have mainly mis-match cups in our cabinets. I had all matching dishes when I was a newlywed. It got boring. Now I pick up pretty cups here and there at thrift and yard sales... when one breaks, it's no big deal, because they already don't match! They are colorful and it makes me happy.

We make firestarters from trash paper and old candles/crayons... usually we just twist the paper and dip it in the wax, but at holidays, we fill small cardboard boxes or tp rolls with a mix of pet litter (clean) and wax, dip the whole shebang in wax, and cover in pretty wrapping paper... it makes a pretty gift they can burn, wrapping and all!

Also around the holidays, we try to clean out the pantry. We usually have enough in there by then that we can go a month or more with only needing the fresh stuff, which keeps the scary zombie food from hiding in the pantry for years, and makes room for the new stuff in the new year (though I stock up all through the good holiday sales.)

With all this squirreling, it would be easy to become a scary hoarder, so every year at Christmas, any "maybe" gift that went into the gift closet that I'm not going to use after-all goes to charity. And any "I can't believe I bought that" food goes to the food bank... nothing goes to waste...

And last, but not least-- someone else already said it, but it bears repeating-- I *LOVE MY CHICKENS!!!* We have suburb chickens-- just 4 (started with just three, but we adopted a foundling), and they are funny, silly, spoiled pets-- with the benefit of eating my dinner scraps and providing breakfast in return. My girls love them, and they are learning about ecosystems and life-cycles and responsibility and chores and where food comes from and, and, and...

For those who live where it's legal, I highly encourage you to consider adding them to your life. Backyardchickens.com is a good site to look at. I figure at $5/dozen for cruelty free eggs, my girls are a bargain... and they eat the slugs out of the garden, too! (oh, and three chicks and one grape leads to game of keep-away that is cuter than ANY stupid cat on you-tube!!!)

That's it. That's all I've got, the rest of it has been said before, and better.

Vinegar!

 

[plummer925]

... and yes, I have no life, but I also read this thread years ago, so I had a head-start.

Some things I know weren't anywhere in here... because I read it... ouch...

I didn't quote your entire wonderful post, but did want to saw WOW! I printed off about 10 pages yesterday that I had copy/pasted from this thread - I'm going to print another page of just your post - you have fantastic ideas. Thank you!

 

[Zhoen]

... I read this somewhere, but not on this thread, oddly enough... if you buy your tuna water-packed, then instead of draining off the water, you can dump the whole can into a bowl with some instant oatmeal (unflavored), just enough to soak up the water. This stretches the meat a little and adds fiber. I won't lie, you CAN sort of taste it if you eat it plain, but if you're making tuna salad, then not so much. I put my tuna salad on multigrain bread, so it blends right in...

... but most of the time this is not an option. Most of the time the minute I open the pantry there is loud-mouth cat proclaiming that if only I loved him as much as he loves me, I'd give HIM that can of tuna... we compromise, I get the meat, he gets the juice poured over his dry food.

 

[KCMiller]

My biggest budget saver is Goodwill, Volunteers of America, the Salvation Army and a great local chain of thrift stores. Apart from underwear, bathing suits and shoes, I haven't purchased any new clothes in years. Literally years. Not for me, not for my husband, not for my children, who are all grown now. And my husband and I work in professional offices, where we wear suits most days. You'd be shocked at what you can find at thrift stores. I literally pay pennies on the dollar for name brand, barely worn or brand new with tags clothing.

I'm not going to pretend that this is really easy - you actually have to spend some time shopping around. But we look great, and no one knows that my whole family dresses like this for less than $100 A YEAR.

KC

 

[lttlmc3]

My biggest budget saver is Goodwill, Volunteers of America, the Salvation Army and a great local chain of thrift stores. Apart from underwear, bathing suits and shoes, I haven't purchased any new clothes in years. Literally years. Not for me, not for my husband, not for my children, who are all grown now. And my husband and I work in professional offices, where we wear suits most days. You'd be shocked at what you can find at thrift stores. I literally pay pennies on the dollar for name brand, barely worn or brand new with tags clothing.

I'm not going to pretend that this is really easy - you actually have to spend some time shopping around. But we look great, and no one knows that my whole family dresses like this for less than $100 A YEAR.

KC

I love Good Will! People would be amazed what kinds of things others give away. I've gotten several expensive name brand clothing items there. My favorite was Michael Kors jeans with the tags still on them!

 

[Zhoen]

Ok, so maybe this is a quote for the tag fairy, but... around here, Goodwill prices are OUTRAGEOUS. I refuse to shop at my local Goodwills, and avoid donating to them if there is another option.

What I mean:

-brand new, unopened silverware 20pc set labelled $30 (that sells at walmart for $19.96)
-A badly-worn pressboard computer Armoire for $450, when I had bought the same one new for $400
- Furniture with no known history labelled as "antique" and priced as such

I understand that these stores function to raise money for their charities, but around here, the Goodwills cross the line and exploit the poor who are there for a bargain. I find the same quality/brand/condition merchandise at Salvation Army and Amvets, priced much lower to start with and then those stores have weekly sales or discounts.

The take-away here is "even at thrift shops, it pays to shop around."

 

[PennyInPink]

My favorite way to stretch ground beef: our local butcher shop often has it on sale by the 10 pound bag. When I get home I divide it into 11, not 10 portions for the freezer. For most casseroles, spaghetti, etc, you'll never notice that it's only 9/10 ths of a pound.

Not only can you cut dryer sheets in half, you can reuse them as well. I keep an empty mayonaise jar in the laundry room in the cupboard next to the fabric softener, and when I empty the dryer, I stuff the sheet into the jar to pull out another time. You can get 3 or 4 uses out of each sheet.

 

[nancycg56]

My appliance repair man told me to poor some white vinegar in the bottom of my dishwasher and run it thru empty to clean it out

Mine said the same thing! It seems to work pretty well

 

[Jerseyguy's Wife]

I remembered reading this thread a long time ago. It was an awesome thread then and an awesome thread now. And now, I have time to try some of this stuff, so I'm bumping it back to the top of the budget board.

 

[tinytink]

My favorite way to stretch ground beef: our local butcher shop often has it on sale by the 10 pound bag. When I get home I divide it into 11, not 10 portions for the freezer. For most casseroles, spaghetti, etc, you'll never notice that it's only 9/10 ths of a pound.

Not only can you cut dryer sheets in half, you can reuse them as well. I keep an empty mayonaise jar in the laundry room in the cupboard next to the fabric softener, and when I empty the dryer, I stuff the sheet into the jar to pull out another time. You can get 3 or 4 uses out of each sheet.

My favorite way to stretch ground beef is I add mashed up tofu to it when I make tacos or spaghetti. No one has figured out my secret recipe, they all think it's cheese. Lol

 

[doris1976]

Great ideas everyone! Probably has already been said, but.....a dryer sheet under your car seat will make your car smell good and remove odors.

 

[usd2bmd]

Just finished reading all 90 some pages... Now I need to go back and copy the tips I will start using... THanks everyone!

 

[Woodmnky]

Admittedly I ready the first 20 pages and then the last 20 pages, so I may have missed a few things.

Here are some of our money saving things:

I use old socks with holes in them, ball them up very tightly and make dryer balls out of these. Saves money and allows me to repurpose the worn socks.
http://abacktobasicslifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/03/no-cost-dryer-balls.html

We have completely rid our house of disposable products. The only exception to this is toilet paper and even then we have methods to make this go much further (Google "family cloth" for more info).

We don't go out to fast food often, but when we do we always save the condiments, utensils, and napkins for travel or picnics later on.

Drug store products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, razors, shaving cream, bodywash, ect are only bought when there is a good sale/coupon combo. I haven't paid for toothbrushes, toothpaste, or bodywash in over a year and never pay more than $.50 for shampoo/conditioner.

We serve at least 2 vegetarian meals each week. Combine this with our son having a dairy allergy and it means that our meals are heavy on beans and veggies, so it is healthy and cheap.

 

[usd2bmd]

I am all for saving money and we have instituted some things from this thread in our everyday lives.
Two things that will NEVER be on the table... Toilet paper and feminine hygiene products!

 

[hsmamato2]

I am all for saving money and we have instituted some things from this thread in our everyday lives.
Two things that will NEVER be on the table... Toilet paper and feminine hygiene products!

I'm with you on the TP....not negotiable

 

[hsmamato2]

We have completely rid our house of disposable products. The only exception to this is toilet paper and even then we have methods to make this go much further (Google "family cloth" for more info).
.

Ok,you made me google 'family cloth' I now have to say "heck no!" after reading it. respectfully so,of course. I like knowing that if I HAD to....I could do this....but I would never do this,unless I was in straits so dire I literally had no choice. (my disney trips would def. go before my TP)....but thanks for the education!....
Now I'm with you on the disposable stuff, we use as little as possible, I try to keep ziploc bags to the bare minimum here- same for paper towels and napkins,as we use mainly cloth for most stuff