Top 10 thrifty things you do!!

[laurafergie]

For those using cloth napkins, any advice for the cheapest place to buy them? Or did you make them? Material seems so expensive. Also, how many sets do you have? We are a family of 5, so that's 15 a day, minimum, and I don't do laundry every day. I definitely want to do this, though, I feel so guilty about paper napkin waste!

We use bandanas for everyday. They are $1 in the craft section at walmart.

 

[Dawnlight]

1) Eat no meat and very little fish (usually canned salmon or tuna, occasionally fresh salmon or cod when it's on sale). Our meals are mainly fresh veggies, legumes, and whole grains.

2) Use thin wash cloths as reusable Swiffer cloths.

3) Have gas range and dryer to save on electricity costs.

4) Use plastic sheeting on windows during the winter, delay turning on heat until it's absolutely necessary, use hot water bottles to warm up, keep the heat on low.

5) I upcycle clothing for my girls (not so much for my boys anymore). I buy used clothing it and either resize or refashion it.

6) Sell on ebay! I've been able to supplement our family's one-person income by selling items from around the home, outgrown clothing/books/toys, and reselling items found while thrifting.

7) DIY-anything we can do, we do. We're painting our own home, interior and exterior, instead of hiring a service. I've fixed repairs to our washing machine after finding DIY tutorials online and dh has fixed the dishwasher doing the same (and finding inexpensive parts on ebay).

8) Plant native, low-water need plants in our yard. Our yard is small, but to limit the need for watering, I've extended the garden area to include native plants that require little to no watering.

9) Live in a smaller home and kids share rooms. We are a family of 8 living in about 1600 sq. ft. Our 6 kids are divided 2 to a bedroom. It's small by American standards, for our family size, but it works for us.

10) Save on water/sewer costs by dumping water used to boil legumes, pasta, grains, etc into yard. I also add our eggshells to the garden to help fertilize it and keep slugs away.

11) Cloth-diapered my kids when I had 3 babies in diapers.

 

[Eureka]

No, self, you don't need that bag of cookies!

My problem with this one is I end up baking for the kids' lunches instead of buying overpriced packaged cookies (that are full of preservatives and aren't all that great with the exception of Oreos), and then I eat them too

Seriously though, I do many of the same things you all do: stock up on loss leaders at the grocery store, cut dryer sheets in half, try mostly cook from scratch, although that one is hard with both of us working full time and the kids in a lot of activities through school. And I think soon I will have to be setting a timer for DS11's showers too!

 

[dpswift]

1.We use cloth napkins.

2. We use very few paper towels. Mostly use reusable towels and wash clothes for drying hands and wiping counters.

3. Kids wore cloth diapers, wash clothes insted of baby wipes.

4. All kids were breastfed.

5 .Make pizza at home.

6. Check out thrift stores and consignment shops.

7. Re usable water bottles.

8. DH and I take lunch to work each day.

9. Stay away from Wegmans(local supermarket) Do most of my grocery shopping at Target or a cheaper grocery store.

10.Buy meats that have been marked down.

11. Stay away from shopping websites.

 

[dpswift]

For those using cloth napkins, any advice for the cheapest place to buy them? Or did you make them? Material seems so expensive. Also, how many sets do you have? We are a family of 5, so that's 15 a day, minimum, and I don't do laundry every day. I definitely want to do this, though, I feel so guilty about paper napkin waste!

Garage sales. It really does not matter to me if they match.

 

[SamSam]

I had to comment on these, the rest (of almost all responses, I already do), wonderful tips from everyone.
This one I had never heard of OR thought of but will start doing.
3.) save dryer lint and toliet paper/paper towel rolls to make fire starters - we have a seasonal camp site and use them there

I have a story to share about this one. We also used a timer for our son and daughter (years ago) but they wouldn't get out when the timer went off (we could hear it). So, we started listening for the timer to go off and once it did we would run downstairs and turn off the hot water. Our daughter thought it was tied to the timer and believe she got out fast once the hot water shut off. We share it the story with her once she was grown and we all had a good laugh about it.

4.) timed showers we have a timer in the bathroom and once it goes off kids know they need to be done taking their shower. If I didn't do this they would take 30-45 min showers!

 

[DisneyShannon]

If you like to read use www.paperbackswap.com I caught onto this site years ago from this forum. They also have dvds.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

These are great new ideas - and good reminders for ideas I know of but have been slipping on!
I don't think I can get to 10 new ideas but these are mine:
1. Don't act like a spoiled kid. I know too many retired folks with $0 in the bank who keep financing their behinds off to get new toys that they have to have. I'm thankful for that example though I feel sad for them; I am glad I am one who can learn from others' mistakes.

2. Don't make spoiled kids. I have failed here in the past but it's never too late! Over the last two years I have been teaching my kids all about personal finance and stressing giving time and resources over fulfilling personal wants. I have also focused on eliminating waste and taking care of what we have. They are already great bargain shoppers at 7 and 10 years old and the 10 year old often passes up things or treats [whether it's his $ or mine] because he does not find value in them compared to holding on to his/family money. I have managed to downsize each Christmas for the last three years and this year will be the cheapest, while my aim is to match giving with buying.

3. Downsize your home. I was able to cut our expenses exactly in half when we moved to AZ from CA, but I had to convince DH that we could indeed live in a 1400 sq ft house with no usable yard [CA house was 3300 sq ft. with a pool.] I used to laugh at Dave Ramsey's advice to spend no more than 25% of your take home pay for housing, but we are at 23% now! We'll see how well I can stick to my guns when it's time to buy a house in a year or two, but now that I see that we can indeed live happily in a smaller home I know we won't choose a McMansion.

4. Don't chase sales. One month when I thought I had "saved" so much by running around to all of the drugstores and grocery stores and Target with my stacked coupons and "freebies" I spent over $1200! It is better to know the least expensive store at which to buy the necessities (meat, toilet paper, produce, etc.)

5a. Know how much your car costs to run per mile. I have a simple list of my top 5 stores (local grocery, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Winco) noting how much it costs me to get there [not one is in the same area so I can't lump my shopping trips together.] For instance, it costs $1.50 round trip to Walmart, and $5.25 to Target. Unless I will save more than $3.75 by going to Target instead of Walmart, I just go to Walmart and pay slightly more.

5b. Stock up at stores that cost more to travel to. I buy enough from Whole Foods [meat] to last a month because it costs me $8.25 in gas to go there. I stock up for 2 months at Winco [condiments/bulk] because it costs me $6.15 to go there.

6. This one is specific to homeschoolers, but: Don't buy curriculum. I have spent less than $25 on school supplies and specific books that I wanted that I could not get through my library system. If you like to use curriculum you can find tons of bloggers who have very generously compiled professional-level programs for free.

7. If there is something frivolous you want to buy, sell something to make up the difference. For example, I have been wanting champagne glasses but they were definitely not a need! I saw some posted on the local facebook garage sale for $8 so I listed and sold $10 worth of items the same day and "made" $2 on my purchase.

8. Buy quality, and buy used if possible. Cars and clothing are two examples of this.

9. Have financial goals. If a purchase does not fit in that plan, pass.

10. Put your money where your mouth is. If your stated goal is to be debt free, stop buying stuff!

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks for all of the info about napkins, I'll make that a priority this month!

 

[scrapquitler]

For those using cloth napkins, any advice for the cheapest place to buy them? Or did you make them? Material seems so expensive. Also, how many sets do you have? We are a family of 5, so that's 15 a day, minimum, and I don't do laundry every day. I definitely want to do this, though, I feel so guilty about paper napkin waste!

You can buy a big pack of washcloths at Walmart for around $5 I thin there are 10-12 washcloths in it. Use those as cloth napkins they are very sturdy and absorbant. They come in different colors, so give each member of the family a differnt color and let them use the same one for all the meals that day. YOu definitely don't need a new one for each meal.

 

[tvguy]

3) Have gas range and dryer to save on electricity costs.

Depends on where you live.
Here, the electric provider is a non-profit and municipally owned, the gas company is a privately owned for profit company.
There are a lot of electric only subdivision here, and that is a selling point because of the money savings on electricity.
Now, full disclosure, in 1991 electric rates soared and there was a surplus of natural gas, so that year electric bills were high, gas bills low. A few of my neighbors paid $1,500 each to have a gas line pulled to their house, and about $8,000 each to switch their stoves, water heaters and dryers to gas. But by the next year, things returned to old pricing . That was the only year in 31 years we have lived in this house where gas would have been cheaper.

So do your homework.

 

[Sparkly]

I only buy books at charity shops. I've got tons of great reads for next to nothing. Often they're like £1/£2 each instead of £6 in a regular shop. One branch of the UK supermarket Sainsburys had a table of books for just a 50p donation to a charity. Got a collection of interesting stories for almost nothing.

 

[hsmamato2]

Hmmm .......
No cable, we have an antenna ,roku box,chromecast, tivo dvr(old,no fees) so at most it's 8 bucks a month for tv etc
No landline, just a cellphone -30 bucks a month all in
Shop for what we need,and use it,food wise- today dh stopped at Aldi and bought 10 butternut squash @.99 each to store and use as needed-
DON'T buy what we don't need- shop our closets for clothes,changing seasons,etc.
fix our stuff before buying more- buy 2nd hand unless absolutely necessary
Cloth napkins,towels,etc
Shop 2nd hand( it bears saying twice)
Pur pitcher on counter,make my own seltzer with fresh lemon for a change-no need to pay for water
Make most of our meals at home from basic ingredients

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I do most of the things listed and I want to add a few.

Keep a good credit score. Car insurance is cheaper if you have good credit. If you have to finance a car, you can get 0% or low interest because of good credit. (I have a friend, and her interest on her car loan is 28% and her car insurance is triple of what mine costs because of her credit.)

Pay bills on time, to avoid late fees and more interest.

 

[DizMe]

We don't buy soda.
I make most of our snacks.
I don't use dryer sheets or many purchased cleaning products.
We don't eat fast food (well, rarely when we go on a trip).
We cook our meals and fix our own lunches.
I make yogurt and granola myself (non-processed, no salt, and just a little fat and sugar in the yogurt).
I like to repurpose things and I'm pretty good at fixing and repairing.
We have a garden and we raise chickens.
I unsubscribed to zulily. That saves me a bundle
I take advantage of a rewards credit card.
I buy my pet food at Target when they have the brand I use at a good price and with a gift card reward. I often save up those gc's for Disney cards.

Things I'm not good at but am trying to improve:

Limiting paper products. I already do a ton of laundry and washing napkins isn't high on my priority list. One thing I don't need is another load of wash. I have eliminated most of my paper towel usage, though. I sure wish I could cut back on the amount of TP we use. I even told the kids how many squares they were allowed, LOL, in an effort to get them out of the habit of just yanking out a handful of paper. Maybe I'll switch to leaves

Cable. I don't watch TV and if it were up to me we'd eliminate TV in the house. DH is another story, and we have a huge cable bill, bundled in with internet and phone. UGH. It's a real waste--the kids don't watch it because they're too busy doing [good] things and dh only watches sports.

Cell phone cost. There are currently 4 of us on our plan with smartphones/data plans. The twins turn 12 soon and are already asking about getting phones; the thought of 2 more data plans is ugly. I'm thinking about changing our whole cell phone approach. I'd love to go back to the days of non-smart phones. Maybe we'll give it a try.

Couponing/cartwheel and those type of savings. So much time investment for the amount of return where I live. There are a few things that work for me but I'm not very good at most of it.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Our library always has a shelf of books for sale - usually 25 cents for paperbacks, 50 cents for hardcovers. I have built up a nice selection of books for my grandchildren by purchasing those, and I find some for myself as well.

Last week when I was there they had "grab bags" for $1 of books, classified by age or by type of book. I bought one for myself and one for my 9-year-old granddaughter. Each had six books, and we have been quite pleased with what we got.

I would say my top tips are:

Know the prices of things you routinely buy, and stock up when there is a good sale. I use a lot of canned beans, so when they are on sale for 66 cents a can, I buy LOTS.

Bring your lunch to work. It doesn't seem to cost all that much per day, but it really adds up. Make coffee at home, too.

Write for coupons. I live in Canada, where we don't get as many coupons. But I have learned that if there is a product you like, or one you'd like to try, you can write to the company and often they will send you really good coupons.

Barter. See if you can trade off with someone for things you need. I used to have a neighbour who was an auto mechanic. He would do work on my car in exchange for a freshly-baked pie (I do make good pies!). I really felt I got the best of that deal, but he was happy.

Try to start early on things you need to buy. If you are doing it at the last minute, you'll usually end up paying more. For example, I ask for Christmas lists in September from my family, so that I can pick up things when I see good deals all through the fall. It's the same if you are thinking you might need a new computer, for example. Don't wait until yours crashes!! Start researching what model you are interested in and where the deals are.

TP

 

[Sagginit]

ok what has not been listed....

i was taught to strike while the iron is hot. a lot of people say don't buy something on sale if you don't need it, but sometimes you just gotta go with it. for ex. i bought a few cocktail dresses on sale over a period of 2 years that i loved. i ended up having 4 weddings in a year and had a dress for each one already. since i was in my mid 20s when i bought them, statistically it was a good move as most people in my are get married late 20s.

i also have learned to live with things that are not perfect. i got a set of dishes from family when i got my first apt. 4 years ago. they are stonewear and most of them have chips, but since my roomate is tough on things i won't buy more dishes to break. i also hate the used couch she brought, but i can't bring myself to spend the money on a new couch b/c this one still works.

drying my razors. this makes them last soooo much longer, and since they are pricey suckers i save a lot. i went from using at least 4 a month to one lasting so long, i forget when i started using it.

take advantage of employee perks. my boyfriend has a corporate membership at least a dozen museums, so we go to those. i have worked in retail and in the corporate offices of fashion brands, and it pays off to work at a place where you would actually want to wear the clothing. on the same note, working in a store just for a discount because you loooove the stuff will backfire. i have seen many a person give the company back their paycheck by buying way too much.

 

[lauradis]

The only thing I do to save money, is to stay out of stores and don't buy junk we don't need.

I'm not a stuff person, I enjoy experiences better.

1. Meal planning
2. No subscription memberships
3. Keep cars till they die last one was new total price paid 17k lived 14 yr
4. live in a repo house that was valued at 219k paid 128k dumped 15k into it.
5. reuse/fix what I have already
6. 99% of all my clothes are from the charity shop, love that place.
7. pick up all the change I find, turn into disney gc lol
8. changed all my lights to the energy saver ones before it was the in thing
9. walk/bike instead of drive if possible
10. learned to say "NO"

 

[Luvchefmic]

If you like to read use www.paperbackswap.com I caught onto this site years ago from this forum. They also have dvds.

Thanks for posting this I LOVE to read. I have a few favorite sellers on eBay and can usually buy a box of books for a few dollars a book and free shipping. The library, as others have mentioned, sells them for pennies and there is usually a free box too.

I buy the dog food in bulk, the pet prevention things from a 1-800- website ,
( they almost always have a sale and will give me more money off for being a loyal customer ), haven't bought paper towels in years: LOVE the washable Sham-Wows, hang clothes out, thrift shop/flea market shop, rarely eat out, plan meals, no magazine subscriptions, use washable coffee filter , no cable TV.

 

[pjlla]

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share you thrifty ideas! I love it! I've even gleaned some new ideas!! ...................P