Money Saving Tips
A bunch of friends of mine got together and made a list of things we do to save money. These are little things that anyone can do, and with these tough economic times, I figured I would share them here.
- Make your own foaming hand soap. Fill the foaming soap dispenser about 1/4 full with regular liquid hand soap and top it off with water. Shake. Then you have foaming hand soap on the cheap.
- Make your own laundry detergent. Not only is this extremely cost effective but it’s better for the environment, too.
- Buy generic. Really, it’s just as good as the name brand. In fact, I found that I actually prefer the Albertson’s brand of Strogonoff Hamburger Helper better than the name brand.
- Make your own jello and pudding. It’s much cheaper than buying the individual cups and saves the landfills all that plastic.
- Cut your dryer sheets in half. Works just as well.
- Better yet, use Vinegar as your fabric softener. You will not get a vinegar smell (I promise). Costs a fraction of the price of softener.
- Make your own hair detangler. Mix a few squirts of conditioner into a spray bottle and add water.
- Utilize your library for checking out books and movies.
- Grow your own herb garden.
- Take a picnic lunch to the zoo (or other amusement park) rather than buying there. Check their policies, but most places let you bring in food.
- Grocery shop from a list.
- Use coupons! There are many coupon organizing/tip sites out there. I use Couponmom.com.
- Switch your lightbulb’s to CFL’s Saves a ton of energy.
- Shop the thrift stores. I have found things brand new/with tag’s!
- Buy meat/cheese/dairy at warehouse stores. Take it home and divvy it up into usable portions.
- Bake your own bread. Much cheaper and a lot more healthy!
- Heck, bake everything from scratch! You won’t get the nasty preservatives and it’s so much more economical.
- Reuse Zip-lock bags.
- Plan your weekly meals.
- Grow a garden of veggies.
- Use cloth napkins. Saves the landfills and saves money not buying paper towels.
- Make your own spice mixes. No more seasonings full of msg!
- Clean with vinegar and water.
- Buy and sell on Craigslist or Freecycle.
- Use a pay as you go cell phone.
- Pay cash for everything. Banks will authorize your debit card purchases, even if you don’t have enough funds. This then causes a bunch of overdraft fees. They claim to be saving their customers from embarrassing declines, but I say they are just milking us for all that we got!
- Take your lunch to work.
- Make your own coffee.
- Have a garage sale.
So I hope you find something useful. Something that you’re not already trying. I want to thank the gals at Twinstuff for their suggestions to this list.
