Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[stahshee]

I tried it too and hardly noticed a difference!

I have tried that also with the shampoo and I just dose not work all the water makes all the saop come flying out. Now I do this at the end of the bottel should I do it at half way??

 

[punkin]

I have tried container gardening - had even less success with that, but thanks for the suggestion.

I am trying this for the first time this year. The EPCOT flower and Garden expo had a pizza garden this year and DH promised to build me a container something like that. I currently have 7 tomato plants on my window (grown from seeds) which should have been plated last week but DH has still not built me a container and it has been raining too hard to plant anyway. I have big plans for this weekend. If it doesn't work, I figure I only spent $2 on organic seeds, $10 for soil and $10 for wood for the container (reusable next year). However, if it does work, I have a summer full of fresh tasty heirloom tomatoes.

 

[Kycha]

I have tried container gardening - had even less success with that, but thanks for the suggestion.

I'm sorry to hear that. I really enjoy it.

 

[ticktock]

I am trying this for the first time this year. The EPCOT flower and Garden expo had a pizza garden this year and DH promised to build me a container something like that. I currently have 7 tomato plants on my window (grown from seeds) which should have been plated last week but DH has still not built me a container and it has been raining too hard to plant anyway. I have big plans for this weekend. If it doesn't work, I figure I only spent $2 on organic seeds, $10 for soil and $10 for wood for the container (reusable next year). However, if it does work, I have a summer full of fresh tasty heirloom tomatoes.

Do you have a pic of the container? Thanks .

 

[runwad]

Instead of planting in the yard, try a container garden. You use much less water and don't have as many problems with pests. I had a salsa garden last year. I had 2 tomato plants and a pepper plant that did really, really well. I also had a shallow pot for lettuce(looseleaf variety-mesclun). The pot was filled with potting soil and I could just throw some lettuce seeds on the top and water. Within days, I had enough for a salad. This stuff was fast growing and prolific. One packet of seeds lasted the whole summer long. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck with the onions and garlic.

I'm trying my hand at this this year. I have a bunch of big old flower pots and thought I'd try tomato's, cukes, peppers and would love to do lettuce can i do it in a round flower pot?? I noticed you had a shallow pot you said. I figure what the heck I'll give it a try. I usually have a black thumb and quit even trying to keep flowers alive so not sure how i'll do with food

 

[mom2my3kids]

I have no green thumb, I kill all plants!!!

 

[Kycha]

I'm trying my hand at this this year. I have a bunch of big old flower pots and thought I'd try tomato's, cukes, peppers and would love to do lettuce can i do it in a round flower pot?? I noticed you had a shallow pot you said. I figure what the heck I'll give it a try. I usually have a black thumb and quit even trying to keep flowers alive so not sure how i'll do with food

Oh sure. You can use a regular flower pot. I happened to have a shallow pot, so I used that. The lettuce roots don't go very deep, so by using a shallow pot I didn't need to use as much potting soil.

 

[runwad]

Thanks good to know I was hoping I could grow some leaf lettuce.

 

[fatewineroses]

Someone mentioned bugs on their tomato plant...try growing marigolds around your tomato plant. The scent of them chases away many bugs that like tomato plants.

And ppl have mentioned herbs, basil...but what about all the others? If you're interested in doing this, I would recommend a several plants to get you started with a basic herb "garden."

Basil - annual
Rosemary (upright) - perennial
Thyme - perennial
Oregano - perennial
Sage - annual
Chives - annual
Parsley - annual
Mint - perennial
Cilantro - annual

Those plants that are perennial will last you several years. Those plants that are annual you can collect the seeds and then replant next year!

Easily done in small containers, or put several of them in one large pot.

Hints: Don't plant mint with anything else or in the ground. Mint is VERY invasive and will take over an entire garden! Collect the cilantro seeds and save some to plant, and then use the rest in the kitchen (coriander)! Get flat leaf parsley versus curly parsley. (Curly parsley is usually that garnish you find on your plate at the restaurant.) When using fresh herbs in recipes, remember that the ratio is 3 to 1. I'm not sure about other states, but in CA, if you're on food stamps you can purchase herb plants, vegetable plants, and seeds with your EBT card. Check your state rules to see if this would work for you!!! Slice a handful of basil leaves and toss them with your salad for a special "bite" that can't be beat!

Fresh herbs are easy to take care of, economical, beautiful, and taste great in your food! Not only that, but gardening gets you outside and burns a little bit of calories too!

 

[NCardella]

I have tried that also with the shampoo and I just dose not work all the water makes all the saop come flying out. Now I do this at the end of the bottel should I do it at half way??

I've never tried it with shampoo, but I do this at the end of my conditioner bottle and get one last use out of it.

 

[Kycha]

Someone mentioned bugs on their tomato plant...try growing marigolds around your tomato plant. The scent of them chases away many bugs that like tomato plants.

And ppl have mentioned herbs, basil...but what about all the others? If you're interested in doing this, I would recommend a several plants to get you started with a basic herb "garden."

Basil - annual
Rosemary (upright) - perennial
Thyme - perennial
Oregano - perennial
Sage - annual
Chives - annual
Parsley - annual
Mint - perennial
Cilantro - annual

Those plants that are perennial will last you several years. Those plants that are annual you can collect the seeds and then replant next year!

Easily done in small containers, or put several of them in one large pot.

Hints: Don't plant mint with anything else or in the ground. Mint is VERY invasive and will take over an entire garden! Collect the cilantro seeds and save some to plant, and then use the rest in the kitchen (coriander)! Get flat leaf parsley versus curly parsley. (Curly parsley is usually that garnish you find on your plate at the restaurant.) When using fresh herbs in recipes, remember that the ratio is 3 to 1. I'm not sure about other states, but in CA, if you're on food stamps you can purchase herb plants, vegetable plants, and seeds with your EBT card. Check your state rules to see if this would work for you!!! Slice a handful of basil leaves and toss them with your salad for a special "bite" that can't be beat!

Fresh herbs are easy to take care of, economical, beautiful, and taste great in your food! Not only that, but gardening gets you outside and burns a little bit of calories too!

Thanks for all the tips! I haven't tried my hand at herbs. But, now I think I will.

 

[mnasmom3]

I am going to try making my own laundry soap and using white vinegar for my fabric softner. Can you add scents to them for a little different smell?
I am excited to try this, I am sick of spending so much money on fabric softner.

I don't put any extra scent in mine, but I don't see why you couldn't.

 

[disneyorvegas]

I have an herb planter that has basil, parsley, sage, thyme and rosemary in it. It is definitely the best for making pesto and not paying for fresh herbs at the supermarket!

Veggie gardens are also great for young kids. My DD 7 & 4 love to plant and pick veggies. I have a major black thumb when it comes to flowers, but veggies grow for me. Also, the kids love to eat what they pick, which is a huge bonus!

Another tip is when I am waiting to pick up my kids from an activity or school, I don't let me motor run. I turn the car off instead of wasting gas. Now that the weather is warm, I am also planning on walking to get DD7 from school, and trying to convince DD4 that the walk is practice for Disney World! (She's 48 pounds, so she better not ask me to carry her!)

One last tip is the Perdue whole chicken that comes marinated and ready to put in the oven. I haven't purchased one recently (DH does not want chicken only beef ) but they were $9.95 and I could usually get one on sale at Shop Rite for $6.00 over the winter. This would feed 2 adults 2 kids with plenty of leftovers - enough for another dinner and lunch (or 2).

 

[ncbyrne]

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.

[QUOTE

I just signed up at the Glad website, but there is no place on the Johnson & Johnson site to sign up. What other companies have memberships for coupons, etc?

 

[laurabelle]

I was surfing around looking at different budget guru sites and was stopped at Clark Howard's site when I read about him drying his 17 cent razor blade which lasted a year. Since my kids and I (all girls) all have been shaving now with our Schick Quatros, replacing blades for 3 is expensive, so I figured what the heck. I use the Howard method and simply blot the blade on a towel and put it away. I've had the same blade in for a couple of months now, works great! Getting the kids on board has taken some nagging, since they like to leave their razors in the shower. But mama ain't buyin' no blades, so that's an inspriation to start. Seriously, I am going to have to buy one more four pack because I know they haven't started out drying them, but now that I know I'm not going to be buying them constantly, it's going to be a huge $ saver around here!

Here's part of an article from the Chicago Tribune:

But one very simple method has great allure and at least anecdotal support: dry your razor blades after shaving.

The concept is this: Razor blade dullness stems more from oxidation, microscopic rusting, than from contact with whiskers. Water that sits on blades between shaves causes the oxidation.

Corrosion can cause metal on the blade to flake off and the edge to become blunted and jagged. That results in blades pulling and tearing hairs instead of cleanly slicing through them.

Degraded performance prompts most people to ditch the blade for a new one.

If water causes rusting, and rusting is the main culprit of blade dullness, then, presumably, drying your razor blades could increase the life of blades. A high-profile test of this happened when consumer-advocate radio host Clark Howard of Atlanta used a 17-cent disposable razor for an entire year. He said he extended blade life by blotting his razor dry with a towel after use.

Howard's report intrigued Atlanta resident Brian Cohn, who then tried it himself. Cohn said his results weren't quite as good but still amazing. Instead of blades lasting the usual 10 days to two weeks, his blades lasted five to six months.

"I just couldn't get over it," he said. "I truly hated buying razor blades."

Cohn has since invented a razor-storage device with a small fan for drying razors. He hopes to market it under the name RazorPro.

Because the only evidence he had was anecdotal, he paid for testing research from an independent laboratory, 360-Degree Testing Service of Yonkers, N.Y. It tested a two-blade razor from Bic, a three-blade razor from Gillette and a four-blade razor from Schick.

The results? Using the fan device to dry blades extended blade life an average of 122 percent, or more than double.

None of this is conclusive proof that drying your blades after shaving will make them last longer. But it's worth a try, especially if you use expensive cartridges. If it doesn't work for you, you've lost very little.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-ym-spending-1104nov04,0,1966153.story?page=1

Clark Howard: http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/2007/08/31/

 

[extremesoccermom]

It took me a couple of days to read throught this entire thread to see if there was anything we haven't tried but we do it all.
Cutting the soap especially with the new foam pumps has helped alot.
I was always and occasional couponer but have gotten serious now since I not only feed myself 43, DH 45, DS 18, DD 13 and my nephews 4 days a week. They are 16, 6 and 1. We have had to really tighten the purse strings and now thanks to some great deals at our grocery store if you spend 50.00 you get 10.00 off every other week or so and other meal deals I have shopped the sales for last 3 visits I have turned my 75.00 trip into 30.95 to 32.50 OOP. The cashiers are amazed.
We have gardened for fun for years, even when I still lived with my parents, but last year we gardened to eat. We grow early girl, mr. stripey, and cherry tomatoes which are actually comming back from last year since I didn't clean up the left over tomatoes last year when they started freezing at night I just let them fall in the ground now we are surprized with tomato plants everywhere. Green, red and purple peppers. Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, Mint and this year oregano, sage, and thyme. The kids love the cucumbers, cantalope, watermellon and pumpkins. Last year I added yellow and zucchini squash. The lettuce lasted until early August then seeded out. Broccoli is a little harder because of the worms but I check the leaves every morning and evening and did well last year. Corn was way to hard to grow so we gave up on those. We also have a couple of jalapeno plants to make pico digio BUT you have to keep those plants away from the other peppers. We found that out a few years ago when I went to use the sweet peppers in something and it turned out spicy.

The only thing I can add is that we started last year hitting some of the area free movies, concerts and park functions. It started with my sister telling me about a free concert series then we heard about some other ones on the radio and now I have joined a couple of local yahoo groups where people post about free events. Are family turns these events into great get togethers and we bring picnics to share and enjoy.

 

[happycampers]

We have had to really tighten the purse strings and now thanks to some great deals at our grocery store if you spend 50.00 you get 10.00 off every other week or so and other meal deals I have shopped the sales for last 3 visits I have turned my 75.00 trip into 30.95 to 32.50 OOP. The cashiers are amazed.

Me too! (Don't know if you're in my area or if we just have stores with similar promotions.) They've had those 10 off 50 sales for the last seven Thursdays here. I've combined those promotion days with some strategic couponing and $ off your next order register print-outs. I also got some of their stimulus package gift cards (like earning 10% on your money). After yesterday's trip, I only spent $4 out of pocket considering coupons and the $30 bonus on the gift card. Between that store and Aldi's, I think I'm doing pretty well.

 

[punkin]

Do you have a pic of the container? Thanks .

I looked through my pictures, but I don't. Sorry. It was a triangular box (shaped like a pizza) about 3.5 ft high and 3 ft. at the wide end. It was made from that fake wood that they make deck from. It had a black liner (with holes for drainage and I believe it had some gravel at the bottom for drainage too. Then it was all topsoil. They had tomato, oregano, and some other pizza things all growing together. Very cute.

 

[StillPinballFamily]

I bought a ton of white "barkeeper" towels from The Dollar Tree 2 for $1. We're using those instead of napkins, paper towels.

I'm going to try this - went to the Dollar Tree today - it just opened nearby. I looked at the barkeeper towels - they looked great, but bought a bunch of their 2 for $1 microfiber towels instead. They are 15 x 15 inches (the size of a paper towel square?) and are in really bright pretty colors. Thought the kids (and I ) might be more willing to use them if they were cute...? We've just cut out buying paper plates - this is HUGE for us! - and paper towels/napkins are next on the hit list. Also, splurged with a buck for a ventilated basket as a kitchen cabinet mini-hamper to toss them into until they hit the washing machine. Thanks for the tip!

 

[minniebeth]

I don't know if anyone else has posted this, but we have cut out our dry cleaning and alterations and I am doing everything at home. I wouldn't exactly call it "painless" because it does take a lot more time to care for the clothes that we would have otherwise sent to the cleaners, but it does save a LOT of $$$!