Sneaky things you do to save money without your family knowing

[angwill]

I also water down my laundry detergent and fabric softener. Our laundry dose not get that dirty so I feel using the full amount is a big waste! I also water down my cleaning products I have a squirt bottle that I fill with about a third of water then fill the rest up with cleaning products.

More money in my pocket means more trips to Disney!

Want a money saver use vinegar and water instead of cleaning products. It does the same or better job. My DH loves Windex and uses it for everything. I filled it when it was almost used up with vinigar and water and he commented that the windex seemed to work better. lol

 

[angwill]

When DH isn't home, the kids and I can sit all day without running the AC or the television. It doesn't work quite the same once he gets here.

I think my DH and your DH are related.

 

[phred52]

It's a family thing: During my MIL/FIL's first dinner party as a newlywed, someone accidentally threw out one of the sterling silver forks from her grandmother's wedding gift/set. My FIL had to go to the apartment dumpster and retrieve the trashbag, then search the trash. After that, my MIL never let the trash leave the house until she had counted all the utensils.

HA! Us too. You HAVE to count all the sterling silverware anytime its used BEFORE the garbage goes out and AS its being replaced in it's chest. My grandfather's cousin threw out a knife 75 years ago and the family has been counting ever since

 

[mrsklamc]

I'd rather spend my life a few forks short than spend it counting the silverware on a regular basis.

Thesimpledollar.com just did a review in the last few days about which uses for vinegar were cheaper and which weren't, if anyone is interested.

 

[PaulaSue]

I refill the Downty wrinkle releaser with water (saves $7 a bottle) Works the same and Dh is clueless.

 

[SandrA9810]

Generic prescriptions will have the same active ingredients, but different inactive ingredients affecting the way your body digests and absorbs the active ingredients.

There may very well be generic Tylenol out there made by Tylenol, but you'd have to probably be on the inside to know how many generics Tylenol makes and for what stores. Pretty much the only pain reliever I take is Midol, and I haven't had the same results with generics, so I've stuck with name brand. Thankfully, I only take it once a month, and a small bottle will last me a year.

Another point with prescriptions. My grandmother takes Keppra, she's been on it for about 10 years now. In the beginning she tried every generic out there of it, but none of them worked well for her (side effects and such). By August or September, she'd reach her cap with the insurance company and have to pay out of pocket the remainder of the year (Like $300 a month for all the meds). They finally released a new generic version, that works just as well for her, and the pharmacist was able to convince her to try it for a month. Now she doesn't reach her max each year and the insurance covers everything.


And if name brands produced the generics, why are there so many generics of the same pill?? For prescription and over the counter meds.


It also amuses me that every one sees the reply "cook an egg in the dishwasher" but no one noticed Dawn's reply to where it came from.

 

[seashoreCM]

MineMail

When my kids put on different clothes after school, lounge around in them for a few hours, then toss them in the laundry hamper, barely worn, I make the kids remove, fold and put them on top of the dresser to be worn the next day. I'm not wasting my time and money washing still-clean clothes.[/quote]
The clothes will seem to wear out faster with so many washes in between wearings.

... cooking eggs in the dishwasher ...

Put the eggs in when the drying part of the cycle starts for a load of dishes you already did.
The whole idea may or may not work depending on how hot the dishwasher gets inside.

Watering milk down....never. I would think the nutritional value would get watered down as well. I use coupons alot, so we save generally 45-48% each shopping trip (when paired w/ sales) so I really don't have to do the switcheroo.

Never water down milk (incl. breast milk) or formula for the infant. Will very definitely cause malnutrition. However my family, which uses only skim milk, accidentally got whole milk once and we watered that down (no young'uns in the house then).

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[ilovemk76]

Nope, real deal. It won't work on a short cycle though. Cook when you clean and refrigerate the eggs for when needed.

I would never eat an egg or any other food that was cooked in the dishwasher while cleaning other dishes. Dishwasher detergent is extremely caustic and an egg shell it not an impenetrable surface. You are eating the chemical with each egg.


I will not water down a cleaner. I use less, just like my front loader said to do, in each load. I will never water down milk. That is just gross and you are reducing the nutritional value.

I will not substitute one product for another to trick my family. My husband trusts me and will not go through the trash to see what I throw out. What happened to trust in a marriage and a family?

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I water down milk sometimes *only 2% or whole* I don't drink milk from a glass unless I'm eating baked goods *cookies* or waffles/pancakes/french toast, never with a dinner/lunch meal. Even then it doesn't bother me, we don't drink milk for nutritional value *we get our calcium from dark green veggies. We drink milk cause we like to *we are the only mammals who drink milk past infancy..... - we don't need it.

 

[mombrontrent]

I water down milk sometimes *only 2% or whole* I don't drink milk from a glass unless I'm eating baked goods *cookies* or waffles/pancakes/french toast, never with a dinner/lunch meal. Even then it doesn't bother me, we don't drink milk for nutritional value *we get our calcium from dark green veggies. We drink milk cause we like to *we are the only mammals who drink milk past infancy..... - we don't need it.

I agree. My Dh is the only one in our house that actually drinks milk, me and the kids don't. I use it for cooking, baking and cereal. We only drink water or water with a lemon or lime wedge squeezed in it. So if they drank watered down milk instead of that water they wouldn't be malnourished. I HATE milk and so do the kids, I have never made them drink it because I really don't think it necessary. We get calcium from cheeses, yogurt, leafy greens ect. I don't water down the milk I do buy though which is always 1%.

 

[SaraJayne]

Put the eggs in when the drying part of the cycle starts for a load of dishes you already did.
The whole idea may or may not work depending on how hot the dishwasher gets inside.

I don't use the drying cycle. It wastes energy.

 

[scootch]

When we first got married, my husband would put money in the drawer and at the end of two weeks it was gone. He usually put $20 in there. I switched to $10, $5 and $1's ... same amount and we would end up with some left over... i slowly started putting less $10, $5 and $1 in the drawer and he never noticed. Seemed as if he broke the $20 he would spend the rest but if he just grabbed say a $5 for milk/bread... he didn't spend the extra. Now we just use $5 and $1's.

 

[mfd25wife]

There are a few things we hate generic or store brand and some we like better than the brand name. For mac & cheese for DD when she needs something quick, it has to be Velveeta Shells & Cheese. Cheese we get either Kraft or some Kroger ones. I can't get the generic green beans any more because I bit into a stalk once. I know it likely wouldn't happen again, but it's just the mind set, now. However, DD prefers a lot of noodles in chicken noodle soup so either I make homemade or she wants generic or Progresso. Campbell's has more chicken and less noodles than she likes. Kroger brand seems to taste better to us than Sav A Lot or Always Save, etc. Ketchup needs to be Heinz. I can't eat gluten so that isn't a choice but I didn't like the generic brands. Most meds we get generic. Most chips we do also. We use generic cleaners except I do think the Windex doesn't streak like the others I've tried.

 

[hsmamato2]

Yep, I know EXACTLY how much. $31 for a half gallon. That's what I paid at the farm where they made it last spring. With the REAL Vermont syrup, you only need to use a little bit, so that half gallon lasts a long time. .
Either way, its worth paying extra for good things sometimes. Maple syrup is definitely one of those things that you get what you pay for.

Unless you have a ds like mine....he will DRINK maple syrup if given the chance,and in 18 years, he has always drenched just about everything in TOO much syrup- I finally gave up and started buying the cheap junk to cut the arguing and suffering Vermont Maid has no HFCS...but I can't always find it, so I'm gonna make it now for cheap! I prefer real to fake, we used to make our own for years, but it's too expensive for my kids! (We always joke that my ds is a real life 'Elf' -remember the movie where he poured syrup on his spaghetti? that's him)

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

$3.29 a loaf is cheap?

Wow, they charge 3.29 for Wonder Bread? I get bread on sale at Whole Foods for 2.99 that does not contain anything artificial and contains the best ingredients.

 

[MineMail]

Wow, they charge 3.29 for Wonder Bread? I get bread on sale at Whole Foods for 2.99 that does not contain anything artificial and contains the best ingredients.

Yep, you have to try new things and look for bargains. That's what you meant, right - shop around? (Truthfully, I felt bad for the poster who mentioned Wonder bread - your reply seemed a little high and mighty, but I don't think you meant it that way.)

I find that Whole Foods bread goes stale much more quickly than other brands, which is why the packages are lighter. It's probably a lack of preservatives, which is good, but my family likes the natural breads from Kroger more and there's no waste. You have shop around a bit, but there are alternatives.

That's another thing to consider: package sizing. I rarely buy baked goods or produce at Costco or BJ's unless I'm having company. The four of us just can't finish 2lbs of streudel or a case of fruit before it goes bad. That's why someone earlier suggested splitting those large-sized packages with a buddy. I bought a box of perfect clementines and gave half away. We all enjoyed the clementines while they were still perfect.

 

[mombrontrent]

Yep, you have to try new things and look for bargains. That's what you meant, right - shop around? (Truthfully, I felt bad for the poster who mentioned Wonder bread - your reply seemed a little high and mighty, but I don't think you meant it that way.)

I find that Whole Foods bread goes stale much more quickly than other brands, which is why the packages are lighter. It's probably a lack of preservatives, which is good, but my family likes the natural breads from Kroger more and there's no waste. You have shop around a bit, but there are alternatives.

That's another thing to consider: package sizing. I rarely buy baked goods or produce at Costco or BJ's unless I'm having company. The four of us just can't finish 2lbs of streudel or a case of fruit before it goes bad. That's why someone earlier suggested splitting those large-sized packages with a buddy. I bought a box of perfect clementines and gave half away. We all enjoyed the clementines while they were still perfect.

Fruit never lasts at our house. We are a family of 5 and when I buy a case of clemintines at Costco I'm lucky if they are a couple left 3 days later. a case of mangos might last 2 days ect. I buy the big bag of lemons and limes there and cut a bunch into wedges and place in a tupperware container in the fridge. We don't drink milk and I rarley buy juice so if someone wants a little flavour in their water they grab a wedge and sqeeze it in their glass.

 

[reginaastralis]

Regarding generic canned vegetables. When I was a teenager, I remember my mom getting very angry with me when she sent me to the store and asked me to pick up green beans, and I came home with generic. My mom grew up poor, and worked in a local canning plant when she was a teenager. She will only buy name brand, and this is how she explained it to me.

When the green beans are unloaded from the truck, the highest name brand gets filled first. The workers would stand by the conveyor belt and pick off the "cream of the crop". This went on for the different labels, and when you got to the bottom of the crop, that would be store brand.

Now, this doesn't bother me, but it bothered my mother. And, obviously, things could have changed, and I'm not saying that's still how it goes. But, she won't eat generic canned vegetables.

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

My DBIL works for Wonder Bread. They also make store brand bread for several different stores in the same factory, using the same ingredients. The only difference is they mark the store brands with a longer "sell by date" so it sits on the shelf a little longer and isn't as fresh.

Exactly. Hoods (makes milk, sour cream, Helluva Dips) also makes store brand of the same. Alutec that is a generic form of Zyrtec sold by Costco has the exact same ingredents. Zyrtec is $20 something for 30 pills. I get the generic for $17.00 and I get 350 pills. No brainer here. Not all generics are as good, but not all are bad either.
When DH and I first moved in together he refused to even try anything generic. So, yes I would put the generic mayo in the Hellmans jar. Did the same with Miracle Whip, margarin, salad dressing and I'm sure a few others. After awhile of him not complaining I let him in on my little secret. When he realized there was no difference in the taste but a huge difference in the price he was ok with it. A jar of Hellmans or Miracle Wip was almost $3.00. My generic was 89 cents.

 

[timmac]

Almost ALL generic items are of different quality than name brand items. They are cheaper because they are made more cheaply with lesser quality ingredients. Show me PROOF that my name brand cereal is made at the same factory as your generic cereal.

I'd make the exact same argument in reverse, show proof that the quality of the ingredients is somehow inferior.

It's not *always* the case that the same factory produces name brand and generic side by side, occasionally the generics come from completely different factories. But, in plenty of cases it is. Usually, though, the only way you ever hear about it is if for instance, there's a food recall. I remember one for peanut butter a few years back, that affected both Peter Pan and Great Value (e.g. Walmart generic)... both being made by ConAgra.

Your statement that "they are cheaper because they are made more cheaply with lesser quality ingredients" lacks any backing, and suggests relatively limited understanding of the cost structure of manufactured food products. Only a small percentage of the cost is the cost of the actual ingredients. Even assuming it were true that the ingredients were "lesser quality", it wouldn't explain the often much lower cost of a generic box of cereal. Most of the cost the end consumer pays covers the transportation, warehousing, stocking, and manufacturing (both wages and operating costs), all of which are going to be near identical for either a brand name or a generic.