Miserly
Tip # 176
I have been a
SAHM for 17 years. We are raising
four children. To
simplify wash days and take the
guess work out of who's clothes are
who's I use the dot system.
These dots are placed on the
clothes where only the one doing
the laundry and the wearer can
see them. Our first
child has one dot, the second
child two dots, the third child
three dots and so goes the
fourth. It has worked great as
the oldest ones outgrow their
clothes and pass them down
we just add a dot. This
way others can help fold the
clothes and get them in the
right pile.
Loretta,
Mission, B.C.
Miserly
Tip # 175
This
sounds like more work than it is -
I find it relaxing. I save tissue
paper, and iron it, and use the
floral kind to wrap the gift for a
woman, and the plain kind I use
appropriate Happy Birthday/Merry
Christmas etc. stamps to decorate,
for men. I put these wrapped gifts
(free wrapping) into the bags, so
that when the recipient opens the
bag they still don't know what the
gift is - doubles the fun, and
they still have the added
?childish pleasure of ripping the
wrapping off. I always seal the
tissue wrapping with an home
printed label asking the recipient
to recycle the bag in a gift to
someone else. I consider the bag
as a small part of the gift that I
made with love.
Our
local library has been offering a
free service for quite a while.
They have a room with used
paperback books, and the borrower
will bring n paperback books s/he
has finished with, and is able to
take out the same number. The
librarians only keep track of the
numbers you take. This means that
if you come across that treasured
novel you have always wanted to
keep, you can, but you must ensure
that you return the same number
you took out, 6 out - 6 in. It is
so simple,
you might be able to encourage
your local library to do the same
thing.
When
I was a student nurse I didn't
have a lot of money (still don't).
One thing I found I was able to
save money on was hose. When I got
a run in one leg I would just cut
the leg off, and save the , and
good leg, until the same thing
happened again - then you end up
with a double top, and two good
kegs. Of course you have to use
the same brand and color -
otherwise you might look a little
funny :-} I'll be darned if I
could not wear those hose out -
they seemed to last for months.
Another thing that I feel I must
bring up - I have seen a couple of
people suggesting using generic
drugs only. I am married to a
doctor (no I'm not rich) and he
tries whenever possible to
prescribe generic medications, but
there are some where he stipulates
very strongly NOT to get the
generic. Not all drugs are equal.
I suggest that if in doubt ask
your pharmacist. If s/he says they
are all the same - find another
one FAST.
Maxine,
OK
Miserly
Tip # 174
For
more help with economical
landscaping, call around to the
professional landscaping companies
to see where they will be removing
old landscaping. Many office
buildings and complexes (the bank
where I work for example) tear up
all their existing shrubs and
perennials and replant every 5-10
years or so. The torn up
plant materials usually go to the
dump! Now, consider how many
professionally landscaped
buildings are areas there are in
your city and how often this must
happen. Ask if you can get, use or
collect the materials which will
be removed. Now, because the
landscapers won't dig up plants
carefully, ask if you could go to
the site a day or two before and
carefully remove the plants you
want. Some may not make it
through the ordeal, but many will.
At our bank building, beautiful
10ft tall crepe myrtles (at least
20 of
them), mondo grass, jasmine
bedding, and juniper shrubs were
all torn up and thrown away.
I could have cried when I saw the
myrtles laying on their sides and
wilting in the parking lot.
I called the landscaper and he
said, they'd have been delighted
to let me have the plant
materials, especially if I had
done some of their work removing
them. Just be sure to have water,
string and burlap on hand to
thoroughly wet the root balls and
wrap them tightly. Read up
on plant transplantation and move
quickly; time spent out of the
ground is deadly to large
transplants. Plants this mature
cost a fortune to buy at the
nursery. Plus, you are
guaranteed plants that have been
hardened off for your climate.
Also, check with companies who
install lawns for
"remnant" deals on sod.
While large pallets of sod will
keep for a very long time, they
often have just a little bit more
than needed to install a lawn and
it won't keep for very long in
small bits and pieces. These
bits are great for patching worn
spots, or cut into smaller squares
and use as plugs. Decide early on
in your lawn's life what kind of
grass you are going to grow and
only look for that. Our city
sells not only cheap composting
bins, they give mulch from trimmed
trees away free and sell compost
for 1 penny per pound, a bargain
if you can haul it yourself. I'm
going to suggest our church use
these techniques to help offset
the cost of landscaping (city
required) for our new building
addition.
Catherine, College Station, Texas
Miserly
Tip # 173
My
saving ideas are:
1)
Check out your local library for
books & magazines rather than
heading to the bookstore. My
library keeps a selection of
magazines available for purchase
at $ .10 each, books and other
items for $ .50 - $2.00.
There is also a free "coupon
swap" box to find grocery
coupons that you might need.
If you want to watch a movie --
why spend the big $$ at the video
store? See if the
library has it. Our library
allows you to place a hold
online. Sometimes
though, our video store has
pre-viewed movies for sale which are
cheaper than the cost to rent
them. We sometimes splurge
and buy those and share them
amongst friends & family.
After everyone in our group has
viewed them, then I take them to
the 1/2 price Books shop in our
town & sell them & earn my
purchase price (and sometimes
more!) back. This works with
the books bought for $ .50 - $2.00
at the library as well.
2)
Another trick my family has always
used is buy in multiples when
something is on sale.
Sometimes this can be costly, but
if planned well, can save you $$
in not having to rush to the store
to buy at full price when you run
out. For example, I know
that about once a month certain brands
of shampoo and cereal and toilet
paper etc... go on sale. I
watch for coupons and wait for the
sale to double my savings.
Knowing what regular prices are in certain
stores can help you also.
You can use that pricing to gauge
whether or not you are actually "saving"
once you factor in your gas and
time!
3) Ask
your doctor for samples of any
medications you are prescribed.
The drug reps load the doctor up
with samples -- so don't be
embarrassed to ask for a week or
more supply. Why pay
the pharmacy for something you can
get for free? This is good
also in cause you have an allergic
reaction or if a medication isn't
doing what it's supposed to
do.
4) Our
grocery store will gladly divide
up meat purchases into smaller
packages if you just ask.
For example: Buy the family
pack of pork chops or ground beef
and ask them to shrink wrap
them into smaller portions for
freezing. We also ask
the deli to slice bagels for us.
5) Don't
be afraid to negotiate on damaged
goods or requests for discounts
either. I usually only shop
the clearance racks for clothing,
but if something is not
appropriately discounted, not
marked or if it is a damaged but
regularly priced item that can
be fixed easily and cheaply, I
always ask if a manager will be
willing to discount it. The
worst that can happen is that
they say "no"!
6)
Similarly, if you see items not
ringing up correctly, many stores
offer the item for free.
7)
If you are having a service
performed at your home such as
exterminating or carpet cleaning,
check with neighbors who may also
be having these services.....See
if the service would be willing to
discount the prices since they are
hitting 2 homes without an
additional trip charge.
Kaye,
Allen,
Texas
Miserly
Tip # 172
I
am not a "gardener" my
advice is strictly trial and error.
I live in the northern part of South
Dakota -- our growing season is very
short and as yet I have not found
the time to work with starting
plants indoor from seeds (although
it is a very frugal option if you
have the time or inclination!) I
have a very large yard (6 acres out
of 20) that needs landscaping and I
can't afford it either. So I
have been looking for many ways to
do this cheaply. I have some
suggestions. Use plants that
naturalize or multiply (lilies,
hostas, snow on the mountain, ferns,
phlox etc). It will take 2-3
years but eventually you will have
triple your original plants and
starting the second year you can
transplant them to other areas of
your yard. Ask friends for starts
from their plants. Or anyone
who is redoing their yard. I
have a
friend who has a friendship garden
and everything in it came from a
friend's yard. Look for
"suckers" from plants that
can be transplanted (lilacs for
example). Buy perennials at
the end of the season -- they can be
very cheap. You may not enjoy
this year but next year you will.
Sometimes plants very early in the
season are more affordable -- you
may have to wait to put them out in
the yard once you get them home.
Comparison shop in catalogs and look
for special two for one offers.
Look beyond plantings for
landscaping -- your hardscape --
walkways, arches, planters and etc.
This is where imagination,
scrounging, ingenuity can go a long
way. I got broken cement
pieces for a walkway. You can
find demolition sites and take used
brick off their hands (they have to
pay to haul it away). An old
BBQ can be turned in to a potting
stand. Old bikes, buckets,
sinks, bathtubs, statuary can be
used. There are a lot of books
available (try library) on
making your own fountains, ponds,
arches, etc. Planters can be made
from rocks, twigs etc. Broken
pots can be laid in the garden like
an old urn. Items don't have
to be new -- a piece of broken
statuary may not even show amongst
the plants or may just add to the
mystique. There is even a
recipe out there to make your
own stone planters will cement and
peat moss. Check with
your city parks and rec maintenance
dept. or landfill -- you may be able
to get loads of wood mulch for free
or very cheaply just for picking it
up. (They have to chip all of their
excess tree branches etc.)
This can be used in planters or in
walk ways. Use old
newspapers underneath to prevent
weed growth (just don't use pages
with colored ink).
Nancy Young in Stratford, SD
Miserly
Tip # 171
I have a tip
that I got from my mother years ago,
about bananas that no one wants to
eat because they have become a
little brown.
Peel them and put
them in the freezer for a later date
when it is more convenient to use
them to bake banana bread.
When I take them out of the freezer
to bake, I put them in the microwave
on defrost so they are a little
easier to blend in the blender. It
also makes it so the batter isn't
too cold and take longer to bake.
Vicky Olson
Miserly
Tip # 170
I am a SAHM
of a 3 1/2 and 18 month old son.
Here are a few tips I use:
1. I cancelled my long distance on my
regular phone bill (they charge a fee
even if you do not make any long
distance calls one month) and I use my
cell to
make calls. My cell phone company
offers free nationwide long distance
with my
plan. Just make sure you do not go
over your minutes that you have signed
up for.
2. If you have a Wal-Mart SuperCenter
(meaning it sell food also), they not
only except
coupons from the Sunday Paper, they also
take coupons from other stores.
Furthermore, they except other grocery
store's weekly specials. It
takes a few
extra minutes, but I run into the other
local grocery stores, pick up
there weekly circular and then make my
list of what I need and the cheapest
prices. They even honor other
stores prices on meat by the pound. I
have saved a lot by doing this.
3. I always buy meat (ground beef,
chicken, etc.), especially if it is on
sale, in the biggest package that
it is in because it is usually cheaper
and then when I get home, I divide
it and freeze it. For example, I
put 4-5 breast in a freezer bag,
because that is how much our family
eats when we have grilled
chicken or whatever it may be.
Elena in
Wilmington, North Carolina
Miserly
Tip # 169
I
am a working mother of 3 children ages 6,
4 and 1. In my quest to become a
SAHM...I do try to be as frugal as I can
possibly be. When I found my 6 year
old using my expensive brand of shampoo as
bubble bath and my 4 year old shampooing a
dozen or more of her dolls hair.......even
worse to find that new bottle of shampoo
floating in the tub....OPEN....and now
mostly water. The kids would just
give me that "look" as I spazzed
out over how wasteful they were being.
Come on...they are just kids!! So I
found a better way.
I
went to the local Beauty Supply House. Found a gallon size of
concentrated shampoo for $3.99 (on sale). It makes up to 8
gallons of shampoo. Thats a LOT of shampoo for VERY LITTLE
COST! We are all very pleased with the quality and for
pennies a bottle It's no big deal if it ends up as bubbles in the tub
or if my 4 year old plays "salon" with her Barbies...and even the
occasional floating bottle no longer causes me to
stress!
Sheila
in Chaffee Missouri
Miserly
Tip # 168
May I
offer several frugal gardening tips that are
free:
1.
I get free stones and rocks to line my beds
and mulched areas from a local cemetery.
They have an enormous pile from when they
dig up graves and all are free for the
taking,
2.
To cut down on grass areas that need to be
mowed I mulch with free mulch from a tree
service. (You have to make sure that the
mulch is not from diseased trees and that
you use a thin layer so as not to damage
existing plants). I've used this in areas
with existing stable, healthy shrubs.
(The shrubs are all "volunteers"
that showed up in various placed in my yard
and were transplanted).
3.
For the past 5 years I've held a "Plant
Exchange" where friends bring plants
and we all trade. I serve light
refreshments. I encourage "dug
up" plants because this is inexpensive
(read: free) for everyone involved.
Most of the plants in my yard come from this
event. Many of the plants are
perennials and most are self-spreading.
If the plants can survive being dug up one
day and then plopped in someone else's yard
then they can withstand my frugal garden.
We've had
several years where folks bring back
cuttings from previous year's plants they
took home. It is one of the best
things I do all year.
Suzan
Nyfeler
I haven't read
through your entire tips section (BIG!!!)
but I feel I have good idea for
people living in the Southwest; desert
particularly, or any warm climate.
One of the most beautiful and dramatic
landscaping plants is the prickly pear
cactus. It lives through snow,
drought,
obviously very
high heat and grows literally before your
eyes. EASY to propogate! Just
snip off one of the "pads" (use
gloves!) and dip in rooting hormone, pot
it in decent but well-draining soil, and
it will take off. One thing, this
cactus really does need a decent amount of
water to thrive. If "pads"
look thin and anemic, water very slowly.
I water my 5' plant about twice a week in
the summer and much less seldom in the
winter. I keep a close eye on the plumpness
of the pads-this is your watering guage.
Also, give it a light fertilizer a few
times a year. Guaranteed, you'll be
delighted. My boys love cutting and
planting these wonderful cactuses and
seeing them take on their own life.
Oh, and if you
happen to get some of those very pesky,
fine thorns in you, use the strongest adhesive
tape you can find. Lay it over the
affected area and pull. Works great.
Holly, Yucca
Valley, CA
If you are interested in gardening or landscaping
your yard...one of the best tips my mom ever gave me was to start with
seeds. Not only are seeds extremely inexpensive (many seed packets are
around $1.00 per pack) but you get a tremendous amount of seeds per pack
and in many more varieties than are available at the garden center. If
you can get a few friends together and share seeds, there will not
be any wasted and you all will have many different plants for very
little out-of-pocket cost. Also, if you accidentally murder your
plant..or the dog or kids do it for you, you are not out as much
money...it's a great way to experiment with new types of plants...and
veggies...one sunny window sill and a basket planted with herbs or salad
fixings...can cost well under $10.00 to create, while you get
months worth of fresh veggies....healthy and cheap. Rewarding project
for the kids to get involved in too. Happy gardening
Submitted by: M.Gibson, Fort Benning GA
Here are some interesting
gardening tips from my Mum in Alaska...
Have old tires a desire to grow potatoes? Take 3 old tires,
fill the first one with dog food (we use the same stuff we
feed our puppy) and some dirt. Put your potato pieces in there
and water. (The potassium in the dog food really helps with
the potatoes!) When the first sprouts start to shoot up, put a
second tire on top of the first and fill it full of dirt. As
the sprouts begin to show put the last tire on and let the
potatoes grow. When it comes time to harvest the potatoes just
remove each layer of potatoes and shake out the dirt! Harvest
time has never been easier!
Do you like cherry and plum
tomatoes but hate tying them up? Why not let them hang down!
Take a plastic 5 gal clothing soap tub and put a hole in the
bottom of it. (Make sure you wash it out REALLY WELL before
you use it for this!) Next take your seedling tomato plant and
put it in the tub upside down so the greens come out the hole
in the bottom. Fill the rest of the tub with dirt and hang up.
As the tomatoes grow down the stems will not break and the
tomatoes will grow fuller. Not enough? I have noticed that the
amount of bugs that eat at the plant has gone remarkably down
since I started hanging my tomatoes! Happy gardening!
Submitted by: April Katona
For the garden, I submitted
my name to the "seed swap" section of my favorite
gardening magazine. (You don't even have to be a subscriber.)
I traded seeds with people and saved a ton of money. I will
buy only a few seeds this spring. Just be prepared to receive
a few strange letters.
Church-owned thrift stores
are the cheapest, but you do have to keep checking to find the
good stuff. I buy my jeans for 50 cents -$2.00 and kid's
clothes for 10 to 50 cents.
To make the kid's look
cute, I buy plain shirts and pants and embroyder designs on
them. Everybody asks me where my son gets his cute outfits
with elves and nature scenes embroidered on them! A book of
iron-on patterns is usually 5-7 dollars and they can be used
several times, then the equipment to "draw" them on
can be bought from a craft store. When friends have babies, I
embroider a thrift-store layette that looks like new for less
than $3.00 and everybody loves it!
Submitted by: Alanna from
Norman, OK
Two things have worked very
successfully for me in the past. Do your
research, a lot of it, about the shrubs
etc that grow well in your area. My
husband and I sometimes drive through old
neighborhoods here in central Oregon just
so we can see for ourselves what survives
the test of time. Weather patterns cycle.
It is expensive to have things die because
of snow or drought. Find out which plants
can be divided easily. Lilacs grow
beautifully here and I can get starts from
them easily. Other plants/trees can be a
bit harder, an expert can help you. Many
of the plants that grow in my yard started
out in someone else's. Also, I often ask
for plants for Mothers' Day, birthdays
etc. My children have learned that they
can't go wrong with buying a outdoor plant
or tree for me. They help me plant them,
and I have tender memories of these times.
I like to check out books from the library
to help me keep up on local varieties and
to get new ideas.
Hope this helps,
Signe
Here's
another tip for getting plants for your
yard. Go to a local wholesale
nursery, not the store kind but where
they grow the plants, and ask if you can
have their cast-offs. Once the
plants get too big for retail, or are
replaced with the new years model, the
old plants are often thrown onto a dump
pile and burned. My husband works
on a nursery and we have relplaced
several azaleas this way.
Karen
in Oregon
I just wanted to let you
know that in our town, the dept. of Public
Works offered composters this year at an
incredible rate. By taking orders &
buying in bulk (for a whole town) they
were able to offer us $80 home composters
and a how-to book for only $30. I
don't know if any other towns are doing
this, but it's worth a call to your public
works dept. to see. It benefits
everyone since ultimately it will also
reduce the amount of dump space that the
town will need to have.
Lois, Laconia, NH
Just a
note to the person inquiring about low
cost plants. Some of my
suggestions:
Volunteer
at a local botanical garden. Try a
county extension for agricultural
information, i.e. what grows well.
A fruit
tree will provide shade and fruit and
flowers.
Ask other
gardeners for clippings of plants that
can start from roots. Offer to
help when they are digging up their
spring bulbs, or dividing their iris or
day lilies. Often they will
share some of their bounty (extra bulbs)
with you. Peonies are also started
from cuttings. A runner from a forsythia
or lilac bush can easily be transplanted
into your yard.
Many home
and garden centers offer free classes in
xeriscaping to save on water bills.
Improve
your soil by making your own compost and
then working some into the soil around
bushes and flower beds.
A friend
We live out in the country now and I
have become an avid gardener on very
little money. Our city of Fort Worth
gives compost away by the truck
loads...yes gives it away. I have
amended the soil in all my flower beds
and garden for free by doing this. Mulch
can be found the same way as well. I get
my plants several way. One is to hit
places like Lowe's or Home Depot right
before one season starts. Like summer to
fall will get you many discounted spring
plants that they want to get rid of. You
go in and ask where the discount plants
are located (these will be half dead and
not looking to good) and then rake in
many plants for pennies on the dollar. I
only get certain plants at this time
too. The ones that I can divide up and
get multiples out of and perennials. I
also use a web site where you can
exchange plants for free at http://www.gardenhere.com
and just get anything you want.
Teaka in Texas
Miserly
Tip # 167
When my nieces and nephews
were young I made cassette tapes reading
their favorite books which I checked out
from the library. Then when our daughter was
born they all got together and made a tape
of stories and songs for a gift for our
daughter. These cost very little to mail and
they provide a lot of fun for the listener.
Most cassettes are only around 3 oz and can
be mailed for 83 cents. If you send a
collection of cassettes or if you send CDs
you can send them Media Mail which after you
get up to around 7 oz costs less to mail
than first class mail, but you want to pad
them sufficiently because they might be in
with some heavier packages. The cassettes
with stories and songs done by kids make
great entertainment for riding in the car or
quiet play times. Most little ones would
also like cassettes recorded by mom and dad
or grandma or grandpa especially if they are
their favorite stories that have been read
to them by the person doing the recording.
There is a wealth of material at the public
libraries. If your child likes a particular
children's author consider getting other
titles by the same author that they have not
heard before. Often they will like
these stories because they like the style of
writing of a particular author. Julie Lawyer
Miserly
Tip # 166
About 1
year ago I had a serious run-in where I had
gashed my left knee in quite deeply to the
point where I had to go to the hospital even
though I did not think it was all that bad. [
I live in an apartment complex where there is
wall to wall rugs.] I had bled onto the carpet
accidentally in several different places and
when I got back from the emergency-room, I had
my carpet to clean up or I would have to pay
for the damage out of my own pocket .
So I called
my manager up in the main office and asked her
what you could use to get blood stains out of
a carpet, and she told me to ( take an
ice-cube, set it onto the stained marks and
let it set for a moment and then, scrub down
into the blood-stain as hard as I could and
that should bring all of the stains` right out
in no time!)
Well it
really did work ! And I was totally amazed at
what I saw, mainly because, I never thought
they would actually come out. I also thought
that this would be another unique way to
remove any bad stains, save burnt in cigarette
marks.
You have a
very neat column that I like to read every
single day! Keep your good tips coming and I
will be sure to keep right on growing as I
read them ! Thank you for your taking a moment
to read this idea . I am absolutely positive
that many of your readers will be able to use
this one.
Brian5
Miserly
Tip # 165
For years
my mother has been using "Spray &
Wash" on her
shower doors and walls. Clean well
first, (I guess), and spray on surfaces after
each shower. It leaves a clear, unseen
film that prevents spotting. Her shower doors
have looked spotless for years!
Sheryl
Toback
Miserly
Tip # 164
We love our
cats, but their upkeep gets really expensive.
We can save money on their food though, which
is especially important since we have a baby
on the way and are gearing up for my husband
to be an at-home father. The Humane
Society in our town sells cat and dog food for
10 cents a pound. Considering we were paying
$8-$13 before, this adds up to considerable
savings. And it goes to a good cause!
Brandy, Grand Junction, CO
Miserly
Tip # 163
Did you know that
you can get decorations for free? One year my
son was into Toy Story the movie. Everywhere I
looked there where displays about this movie.
At Blockbuster Video you can request them to
save the displays when they are done. I
received many compliments on my sons room. We
also did this for Jurrasic Park. WE had a
dinosaur that had 3 d effect in my oldest
son's room. Many companies will save posters
and store displays if you just take the time
to ask.
Dewilia in Beach Park,Il.
Miserly
Tip # 162
My 8 year old son
wanted to begin showing animals for 4-H. Given
the amount of space and cost for each animal
option (steer, hog, sheep or rabbit), we decided
on looking for a cheap rabbit. Mentioning
this to a friend at work I was able to get 2
rabbits,( with cages, feeding dishes, and
starter supply of food) from her aunt for free.
Before picking
them up, we needed to have an area for the cages
that would keep them out of the elements and
away from other animals such as our dogs.
My husband constructed a 3 unit rabbit hutch out
of an old wooden picnic table and benches that
was a bit on the wobbly side. Cost of
materials....FREE.
Not only does my
son now have inexpensive animals for show, but I
now have an endless supply of fertilizer for the
yard, garden and flowers. Rabbit droppings
are weed free if fed pellets and can be applied
either in the natural form or put through a
shredder. If applied in the natural form,
it will not burn, and we have the most beautiful
yard and flower bed around. The demand for
my sons "rabbit fertilizer" has grown
so much, that he scoops it into unwanted seed
bags from the local grainery ( again, FREE)
and sells it to local gardeners.
This in turn provides the money to buy his
rabbit feed. We have also traded rabbit
fertilizer for eggs, rabbit feed, and fresh
produce from his "customers". Total
cost of my son doing animals for 4-H......FREE.
Check with your
local 4-H groups to get some rabbit fertilizer!
Jean Boone
Miserly
Tip # 161
Here are a few tips I am glad
to pass on to all of my other frugal friends.
Ha, now there is a web site name for someone.
I would love to have a chance to
chat with some frugal pals as I am just getting
the hang of all this miserly-ness. I think
though that I won't have much time to spare as
this "all" has me hopping most of the
time ( I have 4 kids and a DH). Ok,
here goes, awhile back I discovered a web site
called topsecretrecipes.com
and found they gave wonderful
"clone" recipes free over the
internet. Then last week I found in the library
Todd Wilbur's book TSR
Lite. Wow, as we are ever searching for
fat-free or greatly reduced fat recipes this is
a great find for me. Wanted to pass this on.
Pamela Harris
Miserly
Tip # 160
I was
raised living in the city, but my husband and I
have made our home in the country. If you need to
save water, ask anyone with holding tanks how to
cut back. If you need to cut your water
useage, a good place to start is in the bathroom
-- buy a "low-flush" toilet -- our
former one used 5 gal/flush and now we are down to
1.6 gallons. When the dog needs a bath, re-use the
kids bath water -- just check the temperature
before you start -- might need a little warm-up.
Before I run the shower, I always run it from the
faucet first to get to the warm water. Before that
I grab my humidifier tank or a bucket -- as you
run the water to warm it up, save the
"cold" water for the humidifier, to
water plants or for the pets drinking water. When
it came time to buy a new washer and dryer, we
found that the front loading model saved about 40%
of water usage. INVESTIGATE before you buy
appliances.
Something
I learned the hard way -- I loved to use the
toilet TANK tablets that kept the bowl clean and
actually kept the bathroom smelling fresh -- Until
I found out that they eat the gaskets out of the
tank and caused water to leak through the system.
And my laundry tips, some for time, some for
$$...Yes, I reuse my dryer sheets many times, only
run full loads of laundry, and when appropriate
only use the "short wash" which uses
less water. I take clothes out of the dryer
still damp and hang them to finish drying. My
favorite time savers are that I wash my dark
colored work pants first and hang them, then wash
the shirts next and hang them over the pants -- in
the morning I just grab a hanger and its all
ready. When I buy socks I buy lots of the
same ones, no colored stripes for the boys --
plain white. This way they all match each
other so if one gets ruined you only lose one, not
the whole pair. Problems sorting
underwear for two girls who wear almost the same
size? One gets prints and the other gets
solids.
Michelle
in Green Bay, WI
Miserly
Tip # 159
I have been a SAHM
since my daughter was born two years ago. We
lived in a cold climate that didn't allow for much
playtime outside during the winter months.
When my daughter was old enough to be interested,
I bought a giant (20pound?) bag of rice at SAMS
Club for about $4.00 and dumped a portion of it
into a plastic sweater storage box. I added
a few fun things like kitchen utensils, funnels,
and measuring cups, and let her have a little
"sandbox" in the kitchen. I'd
sweep up the mess afterwards and put the lid on
the box and store it under her crib. She
loved it. (Additionally, I didn't run out of
rice for meals for quite some time!)
Now that she's 2, I
thought she was ready for a "real"
outside sandbox, so I purchased 100 pounds (2
bags) of play-sand at Home Depot for less
than $2.00 each. I poured them into a
gigantic Rubbermade storage container trunk with a
lid that we no longer needed for storage
(because we simplified and got rid of most of our
junk!). I put tape over the air holes
to keep the bugs out. It is the perfect size
for her to fully sit in and play with all kinds of
toys, the sand stays clean and mostly stays inside
the container because of the high sides, and the
lid never blows off like some of the other
sandboxes that I've seen that cost a small
fortune. This sits in the corner of the
patio, out of the way and I can move it into
the sun on nice days. My daughter is looking
forward to this summer when it will be warm enough
that she can put on her swimsuit and play in
it---there's probably enough room in there to
invite a little friend!
Michele, Albuquerque,
NM
Miserly
Tip # 158
I purchased 37
summer outfits for my 16 month old daughter (who
wears 24mo or 2T) for only $159. Which averages
about $4.30 per outfit! I did so at a second hand
children's clothing sale at a local Catholic church.
If you get there early you can get some really nice
clothes and because at this age they don't wear them
for very long they look practically brand new. Part
of the proceeds from the sales go to Catholic
charities as well.
Pam, Memphis, TN
Miserly
Tip # 157
I have 5 children
under the age of 9. In the hopes of promoting
good sibling relationships, I wanted my children to
give birthday and Christmas gifts to each of the
other siblings. Add up all the gifts over the
course of a year for all 5 of them and this was
going to be a big expenditure for Mom since the
children are rather young to be earning their own
money for this purpose.
My solution was
The Attic Store. I yard sale in the spring and
purchase good quality books, games and craft
supplies for under a dollar a piece. I also go
to the yearly library used book sale where books
sell for 25 cents. These items go into boxes in
the attic. When one of the children has
a birthday, the others get a trip to The Attic Store
to choose a gift for him/her. The recipients
love getting gifts from all their brothers and
sisters, and the gift-givers take great pride in
choosing and wrapping the presents.
Anna in South
Jersey
Miserly
Tip # 156
I
am a SAHM of two toddlers, as we all know they can
out grow clothes very fast. We have a consignment
store in our area that allows me to trade clothes in
for a store credit. This allows me to get the
clothes I need for my kids without breaking our
budget.
April, Woodland Park, Colorado
Miserly
Tip # 155
Like most people
we cherish our pets, but they can be an expense, esp
when an illness comes into play. We recently
found out our Great Dane Emily needed a
"orthopedic" bed bed. After checking
the pet shops and surfing the net, it didn't take
long to figure out we couldn't afford it-esp for the
size Emily needed. I remembered we had one of those
foam "egg" crates they use on hospital
beds from when my mom had surgery. I got it
out, cut it twice the size I thought Emily needed,
doubled it and made a cover for it out of an old
flannel sheet, complete with ties at the end so it
can be rolled up and put away or carried with us as
needed. Our cost was zero, but I have seen
these crates at Goodwill for about a quarter and
even new, they are not that expensive. It sure
beats pet shop prices!!
Melissa , Bryan,
TX
Miserly
Tip # 154
I'm not a
mom...yet, but have learned a couple things that
help me be frugal. The first is a way to make your
soap (facial, body) last longer. If you take
it out of the wrapper a week or better before using
it lasts longer! I doubted it when I read it but it
really does work. My soap lasts at least twice
as long. Also, it doesn't have that slimey film on
the bottom that sometimes accumulates.
The second idea is to invest in a Foodsaver or
similar product. This is a way to be able to
buy in bulk things like cheese & meets for $$
savings and not have them go bad. There are
special bags or containers to buy but they can be
reused. This method keeps food fresher much
longer and allows you to buy things when they are on
sale. You can also make foods ahead of time,
casseroles, pies, even cookie dough and freeze
without worrying about freezer burn. Best
investment of my money I've seen in a long time.
DeAnne, West Linn, OR
Miserly
Tip # 153
I have making
almost all my own cleaners for over a year now.
The ones I make are generally completely nontoxic,
more pleasant to use, work as well (or better!) than
the commercial types, and are much, much more
economical. I won't mention all of them here,
but one of the best is to put plain club soda in a
spray bottle and clean windows with it.
Fantastic! I would very highly recommend the
book "Clean
House, Clean Planet" by Karen Logan on this
subject. She teaches you how to make a
homemade, natural cleaner for just about anything.
It's a treasure trove!
Desiree, Salt Lake City, UT
Miserly
Tip # 152
I did
not want to purchase yet another camera, we have
at least 2 at home with the digital camera
being very
popular nowadays. I found a site at www.snapfish.com
that will put the pictures online and even develop
one
set of films for free and I only had to pay less
than
$2.00 for shipping and handling. This also
allows me
to share photos of my first born among relatives
from
all over the world. I also go to www.photoisland.com
and frame all my digital photos and these framed
photos have been used as great gifts for Holidays
and
all of which are just sent thru e-mail.
Submitted
by Maria, Naperville, Illinois
IMiserly
Tip # 151
Using only half
of the amount of laundry detergent works just as
well as using the full amount per load. I also
cut my dryer sheets in half and that works OK also.
This cuts my cost for laundry detergent and dryer
sheets in half, plus I only buy with coupons when
the detergent and dryer sheets are on sale.
Submitted
by: Kelly, from Baltimore,
MD
Miserly
Tip # 150
was a stay home
mom for nearly 3 years after the birth of my
daughter. She was born 2 months premature and
at 3# at birth, and 4# one month later when I
brought her home, she was not a candidate for full
time daycare.
After looking at your frugal recipes, I have some
suggestions. I used the La Leche League's
cookbook "Whole Foods for the Whole
Family". It tells you how to make
EVERYTHING yourself (BBQ Sauce, ketchup, White
Sauce, I mean Everything!!). In addition, in
the interests of saving $$$ I decided to change my
diet to exclude most meat. Meat was the single
most expensive item on my grocery list, so I just
ate a whole lot sell of it, and substituted tofu,
and other sources of protein for the meat. I
read "Diet for a Small Planet" and bought
the "Moosewood Cookbook" by Mollie Katzen,
and "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by
Deborah Madison, and the "Moosewood Daily
Special" Cookbook by the Moosewood
Co-operative. I also avoided processed foods
entirely! No canned soups, no premade or
frozen meals, no boxed meals. I read the
labels and if it had more than one ingredient that I
could not pronounce, I did not buy it. I did
buy good quality fresh veggies and fruit, and canned
tuna. I grew my own yogurt with a yougurt
machine I got at my local Goodwill Store for $2.00.
I was given a nice Bread Machine for Christmas, and
made my own Bread. I could afford to buy King
Arthur Flour (which was worth the extra $$ becuase
it always turned out so well) by finding a source
for bulk Yeast--saving $30 and $40 over the small
packets at the grocery store.
I was able to take the time to cook all this
terrific food because I was
home all day. I took walks with a friend and
her daughter every day in all weather. My diet
improved, and my weight dropped ( I started my
pregnancy at 5' 4" and 160#, was over
200# when I delivered my 3# baby -- I have returned
to work now that my daughter is 3 1/2 years old and
loves her daycare/preschool-- and I now weigh in at
a svelte 130#!!) I admit that time is shorter
now that I work full-time, but by cooking extra
large meals, and freezing and cooking like mad on
weekends I have kept that healthy diet.
I also educated myself on the marketing practices of
supermarkets. They really use psychology to
get you to buy the most expensive foods (that are
usually the most unhealthy, and processed ones).
I was able to avoid their manipulation, and saved
big $$ at the grocery store!
The money that I saved on food, and daycare, and the
expenses associated with working (lunch, gas,
wardrobe, car, exhaustion, fast food for dinner,
etc) enabled to spend 3 very precious years at home
with my daughter. I will admit that it was not
always easy to make ends meet, and my family shopped
at Goodwill for most of our clothing, but it was
soooo worth it!!!
One other suggestion I have for the neophyte
stay-at-home mom: Find a support system!!
I got involved with la Leche League, and had a
friend with a daughter 6 mos. younger than mine,
with whom I took daily walks and went to the park,
and had play dates.
Good luck to all those who stay home with their
kids!! You do the best work: nurturing our future
generation!
Submitted
by: Annie
Longoria
Miserly
Tip # 149
Our family likes fresh
bread alot and we utilize our bread machine as much
as we can. We have found that you can buy
yeast much cheaper in a health food store than
buying it at a grocery store. Also, yeast sold
in large packaged quantities in the grocery store
are really designed to be used within 7 days for the
best results. I actually emailed Fleschman's
regarding this and they indicated that it could be
used for consumer's but would possibly not yield the
best results. I recently bought yeast for
$1.25 for the same amount that I would have paid for
the jar in the store...roughly $5.25. A
lso,
the yeast can be stored in the freezer for up to a
year.
Submitted
by: Julie in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa
Miserly
Tip # 148
My first
tip is about toddler clothes: I noticed some hints
about buying dark or brightly colored clothing for
children, but after many stained shirts, I decided the
easiest color to wash is white. As long as it's
a good cotton without colored detail, I don't
have a problem bleaching my 2 year old daughter's
shirts after she spills orange juice, ketchup,
mustard, tomatoes, or anything else down the front as
needed. After treating the stain, I just throw
all the bleachable whites in the wash and everything
comes out perfect. Plus these shirts
go with almost every pair of pants, overalls, and
shorts she has! Similarly, all of my husband's
athletic socks and underclothing are white, and
so are many of my towels and sheets, so it is very simple
to do one or two white loads (rather than
several colored loads separating all the different
degrees of color, using different water temps).
And as long as I don't bleach every time, the clothing
doesn't wear out any faster, looks good much longer
than faded colors do.
My second tip is about
"rags": I found a pack of white
economy washcloths--I got 48 in a pack-- at SAMS
Club for about $9. Although that's $.19 a
washcloth, and paper towels cost maybe $.02
each, you can wash and reuse the cloth towels over
and over (I've had mine for almost 2 years now),
whereas you are throwing out the paper towels!
When they start to get too ragged looking, I use a
permanent marker to write an X on the tag, and I
know these are just for cleaning. I store the
cleaning rags in my laundry room and use them for
cleaning the bathroom, or for messy jobs (washing
the car, blotting up stains on the carpet, etc).
The rest I use as napkins for my toddler, and for
mopping up spills in the kitchen, washing dishes in
the sink, cleaning mirrors and glass, and so on.
