Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[Vickibean]

I am still using the baggies. It is just my opinion, but the cost of the baggie (not ziploc) can't be more than than the cost of water, soap and electricity for running the dishwasher.

 

[TifffanyD]

I am still using the baggies. It is just my opinion, but the cost of the baggie (not ziploc) can't be more than than the cost of water, soap and electricity for running the dishwasher.

I use baggies too. It is pretty cheap (500 for $6ish) but I worry about the amount of plastic I am throwing away. But I make up lots of baggies all at once so I don't have to do it every morning - and I don't have that many containers!

 

[Princess April]

Another along the same lines...don't use fabric softener, use vinegar instead (it really does work, I promise!!). Vinegar also works well instead of JetDry in the dishwasher.

I saw something about this on another thread... do you put it in the "Downey Ball" or do you have pour it in by hand? Also, how much do you use? I will be doing the laundry tommorrow and guess what?!? I'm fresh out of liquid fabric softner and I would love to try this idea... I have pleanty of vinegar at home.

 

[musclemouse]

I think I am good at this...

I shop at ALDI for most of my groceries. Check online at ALDI.com for a location near you. Don't be afraid of this store. I was at first but the food (I SWEAR TO YOU) is so much better tasting than your traditional brands you see at the other stores. Really really you have to try it out. Save so much money on yummy foods.

I'm not a coupon clipper because usually it's things I wouldn't normally buy in the first place. I have joined many websites (johnson and johnson, glad, etc...you get the idea) and they send coupons. I have recieved many freebies and coupons for free items.

I don't use ground beef - too expensive and bad for you. In place of that I use ground turkey. I don't buy Mac and cheese, I make homemade. Some nights we have BLT's, tomato soup w/grilled cheese, breakfast for dinner, quesadillas (soooo inexpensive). Kabobs, grilled chicken salad.

If you buy ice glazed bags of chicken...thaw cut in half (to thin out) and use one-half as one portion.

What I do...
*use half the laundry detergent they recommend (let soak first)
*salvation army for clothes
*craigslist (not not not Ebay)
*Mom2Mom sales (sell and shop)
*Buy items that could be great gifts for someone WHEN on sale.
*Make my own cards
*Offer my services to others at lowest price...word gets around (I make candy bar wrappers and mom cards for other moms (phone numbers, addresses...etc.)
*Workout at home NOT the gym
*Use Netflix instead of renting at a store

If I think of anymore....

 

[englishteacha]

I've been using half dryer sheets for years. Whenever I open a new box, I cut all of them in half at once. I use whatever "Free and Clear" detergent is on sale (often Sun or Purex) and use half the recommended amount, unless items are really dirty. For DH's clothes I use whatever detergent is cheapest. I can't wear items that have been washed in scented detergent, but he can! I wash everything in cold except unmentionables and really dirty socks. I hang a lot to dry, even in winter. I have limited space indoors, so I often do a load daily instead of several at once. An added advantage is that our clothes look good for years...to the point where I'm just tired of wearing them!

Turning off the heated dry option on the dishwasher made a noticable difference in our electric bill. I turn off lights, unplugged chargers, etc. I can't convince DH to put the living room electronics on a power strip to turn off, though. Apparently it's too much work to turn on the power strip before sitting down to watch TV!

I shop second-hand and discount stores when I get new clothes. I don't think anyone will care if my khakis came from JC Penney, Walmart, or the second-hand shop, as long as they look good!

I shop Save-a-Lot for a lot of our groceries. Our store is very clean, and the meat department is quite good. Their generic brands are delicious, and I've never been disappointed with them. Since it's just groceries, I don't get pulled into other departments like I do at Super Walmart! I buy bread at the Country Kitchen "thrift store"-day-old bread. Good bread for half the price of the grocery store.

 

[Brenna&Noah's Mom]

I use the dryer sheets to clean my bathtub and shower.Save them as you take out the clothes from the dryer.I was amazed at how clean my shower got.I also clean with baking soda ..it is only 30 cents at wally world.

 

[lttlmc3]

I use the dryer sheets to clean my bathtub and shower.Save them as you take out the clothes from the dryer.I was amazed at how clean my shower got.I also clean with baking soda ..it is only 30 cents at wally world.

How do you use them to clean??

 

[Brenna&Noah's Mom]

Wet them with water.There is something in them (dryer sheets)that can get the soap scum off.

 

[annsteere]

The new concentrated, Ultra dish soaps are a good idea for the environment since they use less plastic. But, DH and DD squirt the same amount of dish soap into the pan regardless of whether or not it is concentrated.

So, I keep and extra, empty soap bottle and when I buy a new bottle I empty about 1/3 of it and store the concentrate in my stash bottle. I replace that concentrate with water. When the one at the sink gets down to about 1/3 of a bottle I refill from my stash and dilute as appropriate.

 

[mnasmom3]

I started making my own laundry detergent. Surprisingly fast and easy to do. It's no Tide, but I've never had a pretreated stain not come out.

I stopped buying most paper and plastic products. I did this more to save the environment than money, but it has both perks. Tupperware instead of baggies, cloth napkins instead of paper, etc.

I stopped using the heated dry cycle on the dishwasher.

Vinegar has a TON of uses http://www.vinegartips.com/ I use it instead of fabric softener. I use it instead of Jet Dry. I use it to clean my kitchen and bathroom. I use it for much more but not as often. It's cheap at Costco.

I only use my dryer for jeans and towels. I line dry everything else.

Swapped out old lightbulbs for CFL bulbs.

I'm sure there's more. We've been really pinching pennies over here lately.

 

[jmtf2004]

It is significantly better (and cheaper!) for you and your clothes to use vinegar to soften your clothes. And no the vinegar smell does not stay on your clothes. Fabric softeners contain all kinds of really nasty chemicals. ..that is why they use strong fragrances - to cover up the smell of them. Check out the info here:
http://www.life.ca/nl/110/softener.html
http://www.world-wire.com/news/0205210001.html
And skip the air fresheners too!
Make sure you clean the lint trap of your dryer every time - and wash the lint trap periodically to allow for best air circulation. Make sure your dryer vent is clear too. If your dryer can't vent properly it will run longer, wasting energy and $$. I have also read that the residue left on clothes by fabric softener makes them more flammable.
You can use vinegar and baking soda to replace most of your household cleaning products. Commercial window cleaner has waxes in it - this is why you can get streaks - especially if you try to clean your windows with vinegar. To remove the wax, first you clean your glass with a mixture of 2.5 cups white vinegar mixed with 1/2 tsp of dish soap - put this in a spray bottle. Spray on the glass, wait half a minute, then dry and polish with a dry rag. After that you will be able to clean it with pure vinegar, no streaks! Way cheaper too.
Use borax or heated vinegar to remove soap scum - do this right after the tub or shower was used so it's already softened.
Lots of other ideas:
We changed most of our light bulbs to compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs - they are more expensive than conventional incandescents, but use a fraction of the energy and produce good quality light. It doesn't take long to recover the extra cost for the bulbs. We use power bars and switch them off for the computers and TV every night. Unplug all chargers once items are charged. It is estimated that 10% of electricity consumption is due to phantom power usage - the power your TV, computer and chargers use when they are 'off'. At Christmas we only use LED lights - like CF's these cost more to purchase but LED's literally cost pennies to operate. We bought them a bit at a time - often there are coupons to save $$ on the LED lights close to the time holiday decorations are going up. Both the LED lights and CF bulbs last much longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, so again, the initial cost is more, but in the long run they are significantly less $$.
Use cold water rinse for laundry.
Do as much baking as you can with your toaster oven...much less expensive than heating your whole oven.
Make sure you shut lights off when you leave the room. Use a programmable thermostat on your furnace or A/C. Turn the temp down in the winter/up in the summer when you are sleeping or are away from home. Use ceiling fans as much as possible rather than A/C.
Use refillable containers for lunches for sandwiches, carrot sticks, snacks, and drinks - insulated, reusable lunch bags too. We don't use large garbage bags either. Our trash goes into reused grocery store bags, then these go into our garbage pail. The garbage pail goes out to the curb for pick up, then we bring in the pail afterwards. I just can't bring myself to spend extra $$ on bags just to put into the trash.
I am reading a few books on going green. A really good one is 'Organic Housekeeping" by Ellen Sandbeck. Lots of great tips to save lots of $$, not just the environment. Hopefully your local library has a copy!

 

[MrsPete]

Wet them with water.There is something in them (dryer sheets)that can get the soap scum off.

I'm going to try that!

I started making my own laundry detergent. Surprisingly fast and easy to do.

I used to make the liquid detergent that uses borax and a couple other things -- boy, did it clean! It was best on whites, but it faded colors a little. I figured up the cost (this was probably 6-7 years ago), and it was only something like .02 per washload. I'd make it 2-3 times per year, and it lasted forever.

I don't make it anymore now that I have an HE frontloader washer. I'm afraid it'd damage my machine, and the savings isn't worth the risk. Plus I've found a cheaper place to buy detergent, so it's not so worthwhile anymore.

I stopped using the heated dry cycle on the dishwasher.

Make sure you clean the lint trap of your dryer every time . . . We changed most of our light bulbs to compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs . . . Use cold water rinse for laundry . . .

I've always been frugal, so I can't cut back in ways like this! Another good book for ideas like this is The Complete Tightwad Gazette.

 

[Snuffy5]

I'm surprised that someone hasn't mentioned freecycle.org
You can give or get anything thru this! I have seen lawn mowers listed, kids clothes, toys, etc... You name it people are giving it away & it's free! You just have to be willing to give away a few things to get a few!
I also have a HE washer & I use about 1/3 to 1/2 the recommended amount and my clothes always come out clean, in cold no less!
Lot's of great tips here!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

didn't martha stewart say she didn't use laundry detergent? didn't she say she squirted a squirt of dish soap in the washer? does someone know about this?

 

[DMRick]

The best budget tip for me was taking a recent trip to the UK and Ireland (where my son lives). Man, everything is so darn expensive there, and our dollar is worth squat, that everything looks like a deal here! No more complaining about prices from me! UK people, I am so sorry for the prices you pay for everything!!

That said, we will combine trips more when going out in the car. Now that we are eating healthy, we are also going out to eat much less.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I found that bringing lunch to work is not enough--I ended up buying food at work because lunch did not sustain me for the whole day(I work in a hospital, and there are about 10 fast-food kiosks in addition to the cafeteria! ).

Now I bring lunch, AND cheese and crackers for a snack, AND almonds for a snack, AND a banana...you get the idea. I bring lots of food so that I'm not tempted to buy.

I dry my clothes (like 10 minutes) to get the wrinkles out of them, then hang them in the laundry room to finish drying (no line drying here--my area is too humid/rainy/sunny for line drying, not to mention that lots of birds in the yard+ lots of bird poop!).

I hate to drink water, so I add a slug of grape juice to my water and it tastes great. A dietician at my hospital says NOBODY, including kids, needs more than 6 oz of juice a day max--it's very intense sugar, so don't feel guilty about serving watered-down juice to your family.

I've stopped using paper cups and I do what my dad always did--I use one real glass a day and I store it in the refrigerator so it doesn't get dusty. I use a new glass every day rather than for every drink.

 

[bettyann29]

Give up paper towels and paper napkins. Buy a bunch of good quality (on sale of course!) white dish towels. They will last forever, can be bleached of stains and can be used for drying hands and are great for covering laps really well while eating...so they're perfect with kids...less stains on clothing!

Ive been doing this for years.. I always hated buying napkins or paper towels..

The only time when I might buy one pack is when we are having a cookout or party and numerous people are coming over.. but on a day to day basis we use the extra dish towels that I bought..

 

[kansas_visitors]

Just bumping, I'm enjoying all the tips.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I found that bringing lunch to work is not enough--I ended up buying food at work because lunch did not sustain me for the whole day(I work in a hospital, and there are about 10 fast-food kiosks in addition to the cafeteria! ).

Now I bring lunch, AND cheese and crackers for a snack, AND almonds for a snack, AND a banana...you get the idea. I bring lots of food so that I'm not tempted to buy.

I dry my clothes (like 10 minutes) to get the wrinkles out of them, then hang them in the laundry room to finish drying (no line drying here--my area is too humid/rainy/sunny for line drying, not to mention that lots of birds in the yard+ lots of bird poop!).

I hate to drink water, so I add a slug of grape juice to my water and it tastes great. A dietician at my hospital says NOBODY, including kids, needs more than 6 oz of juice a day max--it's very intense sugar, so don't feel guilty about serving watered-down juice to your family.

I've stopped using paper cups and I do what my dad always did--I use one real glass a day and I store it in the refrigerator so it doesn't get dusty. I use a new glass every day rather than for every drink.

Along the same lines, I carry a snack/reading bag with me when I'm on the go. I also carry usually a plastic cup of ice water but when it won't do I stash a bottle of water. It really has cut down dramatically on my fast food purchases. I bring a book, current magazine and a handful of papers from my kid's school. So if I find myself waiting (I often do) it keeps me from watching the clock. Good for stress reduction. It's just a little tote
bag, but it holds a lot!!

ETA- I bring cereal bars, cashews, and fruit.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We had these many a night growing up, only they were called "Shut up and eat it"

DH grandma calls it "Got to Go" night