We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
1. We Don’t Buy Paper Towels
I don’t think we have bought a roll of paper towels in over 10 years. We simply use our kitchen rags or sponges to wipe up any spills. We used crumpled up newspapers to clean glass and mirrors. It works perfect, and doesn’t leave any streaks. Plus, I am sure most of us have stacks of newspapers lying around.
2. We Mostly Drink Water
We don’t buy juice or pop all that often. Water is so much cheaper and better for you too. We usually save pop for special occasions like birthday parties. I will buy juice on occasion, but not nearly as much as my teenage son wishes I would. Two of our children prefer water over the other drinks anyway.
3. We Use our Library – ALOT!!!
The library is a HUGE money saver that almost anyone can take advantage of. You can get books, CD’s, magazines and movies all for FREE! I think most libraries allow you to put items “on hold” online and then pick them up when they come in. Here is a tip: Our library puts upcoming books and movies in their system months before they come out. This allows us to put the popular books on hold before they are published and we can often get them the day they are released. No need to rush out and buy a book the day it is released – put it on hold a couple months before. I use Amazon.com
as a resource to see what new books and movies will be coming out.
4. We Cut our Own Hair
My husband does most of the hair cutting in our family. We bought a nice pair of clippers, and my husband says it super easy to cut the boys hair. I’m not saying we don’t ever have our hair cut by professionals, but it is super easy to maintain the boys hair cuts at home (we have 5 boys including my husband, so that is a lot of savings) I find it easy to trim up mine and my daughters hair too.
5. We go with Basic Cable (usually)
I had to throw that “usually” in there, because when we moved we signed up with a deal that gave us more than the basic channels, but it turned out to be cheaper than just the basic cable when you factored in the cash back we received. Once our year is up, we will probably just switch back to the basic cable. We are not big TV watchers anyway, just need our Survivor and we’re happy campers. By the way, I am loving the whole Heroes vs. Villains theme this season. I will admit I am loving HGTV. Give the basic cable a try! You will save money and probably spend less time watching TV.
I would love to hear something you do that saves you money. I could always use some more money saving idea, so share your tips.
I love the tip on cleaning windows and mirrors with newspaper. I never thought about trying that but i think i will tomorrow. Thanks, love you sight.
Wow, we save in all those ways, too! The only difference is that we don’t buy napkins, but use cloth ones instead. At first my kids were not comfortable using them, but just recently they said, “I can’t believe we used to wipe our hands and faces on paper napkins.” Cloth is so much nicer. We still buy paper towels, but we are weaning ourselves off of those, too. I use cloth panty liners and use a silicone menstrual cup which saves tons of money as they last for many years. And instead of buying a lot of different cleaning products, we use mostly baking soda and white vinegar.
No paper towels? ooh. I’m going to have to consider that!! and cloth napkins, Krista…I’ll be considering both of those!! I like the idea of less trash and saving money too!!
Same reason I used cloth diapers, a Diva (menstrual cup) and was thrilled to get a fridge with filtered water in the door (no more arrowhead here!). I recently cut out juice (cause it makes one of my kiddos behave crazy) and its been years since I regularly bought soda. So I’m saving with you guys there too.
Lets see what else…I never buy toothbrushes. I get them for free from my dentist every six/seven months. Although its really easy to get them for free with sales & coupons.
Thanks for posting this, I’ll be watching the other replies!
I will have to give the newspaper thing a try….I hate the streaks left behind by paper towels and even the old cotton t-shirts I use. I also like the cloth napkin idea! I do buy juice, but pop is definitely a rare treat. I cut my husband and son’s hair with clippers, but I am not brave enough to try cutting my girls’ hair lol!
One thing we do to save is re-use ziploc baggies. I still remember my parents washing them out and re-using them as much as possible, so it just makes sense to me.
We also use the library alot. And having a big family who all live pretty close is nice, too. We can borrow many books from family and vice versa. And those of us with young kids can all share music CD’s and load up the kids’ mp3 players.
What a great post…..loving all the ideas!!
newspapers and vinegar beat any window cleaner you can buy i do all the ones you said but i still buy 1 roll of paper towels and stretch them for about 3 months my mother in law will always ask for them. i also buy liquid fabric softener pour in bucket fill the container with water mix together then put a sponge in it and every time i need it wring it out throw in dryer and dry with the clothes works great. cover the bucket. also i will was aluminum foil pieces and reuse them too.
i use produce bags to cover my hair to deep condition it once a month. and my treat is i get my hair cut at the beauty school a big 7 bucks here and the thing is if the student messes up the instructor fixes it and here they have been trained in europe.( only the instructor) its only happened to me 1 time in 2 years and i have shoulder length hair. also i’ll save the ketcup containers rinse them with about 1/4 water and add to meatloaf streches that. thanks i really like the new site but i liked the old one too diana
My DH has to have his morning coffee so when the time came to get a new coffee pot I made sure to purchase one that had the option of “bold” brew – you can use less coffee and get the same great flavor which means more savings!
If you buy cloth napkins, make sure they’re 100% cotton. The blends don’t absorb well.
When you go to the drive-thru at fast food restaurants, they usually give you a handful of napkins. I pull off one or two to use in the truck, and put the rest in my totebag to take home. Keep them all together in a drawer and they’re available for when you pack a meal to go.
When I get home from the grocery, I transfer the fresh produce to cloth bags (potatoes & onions) or green bags – the ones that you can use over and over again to keep the produce fresh. I then use the produce bags from the store for cleaning out the litter box. Empty bread bags work well for this too. There’s no need to use a twist tie because the bags are long enough to twirl and tie off.
I also use plastic grocery bags to line my bathroom/bedroom garbage cans.
Thanks for all of the great ideas! You all are inspiring me to save even more money. Keep ’em coming!
I do 4 out of your 5 tips, except we don’t have cable at all since we always seem to be too busy to turn the TV on. We have a salon a few blocks away from us, so we get our hair cut there: $7 for kids, $8 for men and $12 for women. We all go twice a year and do our small part to participate in the economy.
We rarely buy pop, and the juice lasts a while because my 8 year-old just doesn’t drink that much.
One thing that has saved me quite a bit of money is by baking my own bread. I use the “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day” recipe, and it is so easy. I can make loaves, rolls and pizza dough, and by doing that I can save up to $10 a week.
Beyond that, I follow the general rule of, if a certain amount is recommended on product instructions I cut it by half(toothpaste, shampoo, laundry soap, etc).
I love your site! I have always been a coupon cutter but you take it to a whole new level. I am REALLY obsessed about saving money. Especially since I stay at home with my 2 sweet girls and I’m hoping to continue that.
I am actually planning on canceling my cable TV soon and wiring my computer to my tv and using Hulu to get movies and see my “regular” shows free of charge. Most networks offer their shows online now. Who needs cable! I’ll let you know how that goes. I am also planning on getting rid of my land line telephone and getting the Majic Jack. If all goes as planned I will just need an internet service provider. If it all works I can save lots of money!
I can hardly believe such frugal people (who clearly have an internet connection) still pay to watch TV! When I stopped working last fall I was so sad to stop our TV service… I waited until the last minute to do it I was so disappointed. But everything you want to watch is available (with fewer commercials) for FREE on the internet. I’m like you – I have a few favorite shows to watch. I’d challenge you to visit the channel’s website and see if you can view it for FREE! (or try hulu.com also).
https://t.me/dragon_money_mani/40