Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[Dancemomof3]

I got this tip from a friend of mine and I love it. I bought one of those dish brushes that you can put dish soap in the handle. I filled it about 1/3 full with dish soap and the rest of the way with vinegar. It hangs in my shower and while I'm waiting for my conditioner, or just avoiding my kids for a while, I scrub my shower walls, floor whatever. cleaning the shower has always been a hated chore of mine because I am sensitive to chemical odors and we have very hard water so I was using some pretty harsh chemicals to get it clean. Now our shower sparkles. I recently found out my husband has been doing it too because he says it's soothing . I've had the brush in my shower for about 6 weeks now without a refill and its still half full so I feel like this is a pretty frugal thing to try.

 

[Deffenm]

Count me in as a vinegar cleaner, as well. I use vinegar and baking soda for most of the cleaning; I was skeptical, then I used some water and vinegar in a spray bottle to clean my fridge and with very little to no elbow grease it took off the caked on, gross fridge grime. As a PP said, the best part is it's SO cheap!!

What ratio to vinger to water do you use? I am on a mission to get us financially better in 2014. We live within our means and don't have much debt but we also don't have much savings. I want to increase our savings and finish paying off what little debt we have. These ideas will be great to implement to help us reach our goals.

 

[DWGal210]

What ratio to vinger to water do you use? I am on a mission to get us financially better in 2014. We live within our means and don't have much debt but we also don't have much savings. I want to increase our savings and finish paying off what little debt we have. These ideas will be great to implement to help us reach our goals.

I don't do an exact ratio but most often, I would say it's 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar for "normal" cleaning, and if it's a real mess it's more like half water, half vinegar.

Good luck on your 2014 goal! This is a great first step and for me is an easy way to save money. You can get a GIANT thing of vinegar for a few bucks and it lasts quite a while. Not only is it a cost savings but it's a "green" thing, too. I don't imagine all those chemicals we're using in our houses are doing us any favors in the long run.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Baking soda is great at scrubbing off soap scum in the bath. I dampen a rag with water and then pour some baking soda on the rag and clean a way.

 

[worm761]

I got this tip from a friend of mine and I love it. I bought one of those dish brushes that you can put dish soap in the handle. I filled it about 1/3 full with dish soap and the rest of the way with vinegar. It hangs in my shower and while I'm waiting for my conditioner, or just avoiding my kids for a while, I scrub my shower walls, floor whatever. cleaning the shower has always been a hated chore of mine because I am sensitive to chemical odors and we have very hard water so I was using some pretty harsh chemicals to get it clean. Now our shower sparkles. I recently found out my husband has been doing it too because he says it's soothing . I've had the brush in my shower for about 6 weeks now without a refill and its still half full so I feel like this is a pretty frugal thing to try.

I tried this and it just ran out of the brush. How do you keep it in there?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I tried this and it just ran out of the brush. How do you keep it in there?

Don't completely fill it and you will have to store it upright inside of a tall glass.

 

[Dancemomof3]

I tried this and it just ran out of the brush. How do you keep it in there?

I hang the brush over the bar in my shower by its head. It's one of the triangular shaped Scotch Brite ones. I do guess not everyone has a bar in their shower but it could maybe be stood up in a cup or something.

 

[AintGonaGrowUp]

I buy 10 pounds of hamburger at a time (there usually a price cut if you buy in bulk) and divide it into 11 or 12 packages for the freezer. If I'm making spaghetti, hamburger helper, of lasagna, No one notices that there is only .9 pound of burger in it. Its like getting one for free!

 

[pampam]

I do something similar to Ain't GonnaGrowUp, but I boil some of the hamburger, before packaging it up. That way, when I take it out of the freezer it is already browned and ready to go. I refridgerate the water that I boiled the hamburger in, and skim the hard fat off the top. Then I use that water to make soup etc. I get one more meal out of the hamburger, and the fat is greatly reduced in the casseroles or whatever I use the boiled hamburger in. The boiled hamburger does not lessen the flavour of the meals I put the boiled hamburger in.

 

[verleniahall]

I have read everypage; I started back on last Thursday!!

Something I am doing is every payday, I am buying a 12 pk (or 20 pk depends on pricing and sales) and putting git in the fridge at work (i'm the only one who works there, so it works for me)

Each day, I get 1 can of soda (with lunch) and that saves me .50 each time! minues the difference and that goes into our D-Fund!

 

[PinballFamily]

OP here - delighted and amazed this thread is still going strong after more than four years! So much great stuff here - thanks so much to all the posters and readers!

I finally have another really painless tip - make two Febreeze bottles from one. I bought one "extra strength" bottle a while ago and it is finally empty. Just bought another (on sale, of course!) and poured half into the old bottle and topped both off with tap water. Still a nice scent, but not at strong...which I'm totally fine with! (Maybe my next step will be to make my own room/fabric spray for when these are empty - if you have a recipe, feel free to post it!)

 

[JacksLilWench]

WOW!!! Wow, wow, wow is all I can say after reading all (almost) 100 pages of this thread!! It took me forever, but it was so worth it! I have so many things I want to try now. The part that makes a lot of it difficult is…I still live at home as a student, and have no kids. So a lot of the tips don't apply to me (yet!) I do have one to contribute, though!

I used to work at American Eagle, and we went through Denim Training during our back-to-school time of year. They told us in that training, you should wash your jeans only in cold water, and hang dry them- especially if they have stretch in them. If you wash in heat, or throw them in the dryer, the heat breaks down the spandex/lycra and they don't last as long. Unfortunately, that's all I have to contribute Living at home does have its advantages…(although it's quickly losing its' charm as I approach 28yo), but I feel much more prepared for when I have my own place after reading this thread. Now I just have to go back and write down all the great tips I read!

 

[chris31997]

OP here - delighted and amazed this thread is still going strong after more than four years! So much great stuff here - thanks so much to all the posters and readers!

I finally have another really painless tip - make two Febreeze bottles from one. I bought one "extra strength" bottle a while ago and it is finally empty. Just bought another (on sale, of course!) and poured half into the old bottle and topped both off with tap water. Still a nice scent, but not at strong...which I'm totally fine with! (Maybe my next step will be to make my own room/fabric spray for when these are empty - if you have a recipe, feel free to post it!)

For your fabric spray you can use essential oil with water.

10-30 drops of you fav oil/scent diluted with water in your old febreeze bottles and spray away.

Lavender/Jasmine combo on bed is great for aiding in sleep
Add some Eucalyptus to Lavender/Jasmine to help boost immunity when fighting off colds
Use the Citrus or Peppermint to fight off bugs. Use those on the couches or spray around the curtains/base boards
Use Essential Oil in your cleaning solution instead of all the differant cleaning solutions

Google Essential Oils and have fun

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Baking soda is my favorite.

Deodorizes shoes by putting some in a shoe and then putting shoe in a shopping bag overnight.

 

[supergoofy]

There is a local store in town that sells to the public in "food truck"/"concession" stand quanity kinda like a Sams/Costco but they are at time cheaper on stuff so when they have a sale we stock up.

I bought a slicer so I can turn large cuts into smaller cuts. Like last week they had turkey on sale for 1/2 of what lunch meat costs. I spent 1/2 hour cutting and bagging it. Also picked up 25 pounds of bacon and 40 pounds of skinless/boneless breasts.

And like a PP said when on sale buy it. Have a large pantry stocked now.

 

[pjlla]

WOW!!! Wow, wow, wow is all I can say after reading all (almost) 100 pages of this thread!! It took me forever, but it was so worth it! I have so many things I want to try now. The part that makes a lot of it difficult is…I still live at home as a student, and have no kids. So a lot of the tips don't apply to me (yet!) I do have one to contribute, though!

I used to work at American Eagle, and we went through Denim Training during our back-to-school time of year. They told us in that training, you should wash your jeans only in cold water, and hang dry them- especially if they have stretch in them. If you wash in heat, or throw them in the dryer, the heat breaks down the spandex/lycra and they don't last as long. Unfortunately, that's all I have to contribute Living at home does have its advantages…(although it's quickly losing its' charm as I approach 28yo), but I feel much more prepared for when I have my own place after reading this thread. Now I just have to go back and write down all the great tips I read!

I can't believe I didn't think of this!!..... DD likes Old Navy jeans and has for years, but recently we are feeling like they just don't hold up.... but of COURSE, she started college in the fall and is using the dryer so much more (I hang out my clothes here as long as weather permits, plus I wash everything in COLD), plus the dryers are HOTTER than I would do at home. DUH! Of course it is the heat from the dryer breaking them down!

Not sure what the solution will really be, since she doesn't have the space to hang all of her jeans to dry... plus indoors it would definitely take longer.

Thanks for the heads up!.................P

 

[DisneyHardin]

My tip requires an output of money in the beginning, but then saves. If anyone ever invites you to a Norwex Party - GO (it is one of those come to my house and buy stuff things that I usually hate). Their products are amazing though - they sell cleaning cloths that are woven with silver, therefore are natural germ/bacteria killers. I clean my entire house now with just water and their cloths. I don't buy toilet cleaner, scrubbing bubbles, Lysol wipes, Mr. Clean, etc at all anymore.

 

[Gisele]

My tip requires an output of money in the beginning, but then saves. If anyone ever invites you to a Norwex Party - GO (it is one of those come to my house and buy stuff things that I usually hate). Their products are amazing though - they sell cleaning cloths that are woven with silver, therefore are natural germ/bacteria killers. I clean my entire house now with just water and their cloths. I don't buy toilet cleaner, scrubbing bubbles, Lysol wipes, Mr. Clean, etc at all anymore.

How do you clean the inside of your toiety bowl then? Am a bit confused here.
Tia

 

[Gisele]

Oh and a sparkling clean toiety is a happy one!

 

[Gisele]

Anyone? Anyone? Buellar?Anyone?