There are thousands of ways to save money. Our list of what we are willing to do to save a few bucks contiues to grow. We thought it would be fun to make a list of every possible method of saving money we could think of, and then cross them off as we try them. Want to join in the fun? Leave a comment with your money saving ideas!
Quite possible
changing cell phone plan
gardening
drugstore shopping
budgeting
yard saling
turning off long distance
a family stay-cation
canceling Netflix
recycling cans and bottles
washing out baggies
shopping at Aldi
stop drinking bottled water (Thanks, Barb!)
planning meals around weekly sales (Thanks, Tina!)
canceling cable tv
pay bills online*
compost*
making homemade cleaners*
eating all leftovers*
surveys/paid e-mails/points sites*
refill printer ink*
brown bag lunch*
cut our boy’s hair (I don’t dare cut Wes’s!)*
breastfeed *
You could talk us into it
canning
lowering monthly food budget
making baby food
couponing
stockpiling
do your own car care/maintenance*
make your own baby wipes/teething biscuits*
Only if you paid us
cloth diapers
making our own clothes
living off the land
darning our socks
*Thanks, Abigail’s Mommy!
stop using bottled water – invest in a water filter. Will also save the environment.
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I will take the sales flyers from the Sunday paper and make a menu for the week based on what’s on sale that week. That way when I go to the store I have a list of the items I need and they are on sale and usually have a coupon to boot. Be sure to stick to the list.
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Hi! I stumbled on you blog and I love your list. Let me provide my two cents about a couple of items.
First the making baby food thing is something we did for our twins because they were allergic to the preservative ingredient in jars of baby food. I highly recommend this! But . . . I would have hated doing it without my mini food processor. It made a ton of baby food and was a snap to clean up. We did fruits and veggies and then moved on to meat stews. It wasn’t very long before the girls were on table food anyway, but the savings for just a few months of making baby food was astounding!
Now . . . about the cloth diapers. I know most people are totally against reusing diapers that are filled with poo, but let me tell you, I tried it and I now exclusively cloth diaper my newborn with pocket diapers. You can get the diapers on good sales at http://www.kellyscloset.com and you can buy almost new ones from other mamas at http://www.diaperswappers.com. To use them, you stuff the “pocket” with an insert (which is basically a rectangle of material), the baby uses it in an hour or two, you change the baby and throw the dirty diaper and insert all into a wet-bag that’s waterproof. Then when you’re ready to wash every couple of days, all the contents and the wet-bag go into the washer for a cold rinse, hot wash, then another cold rinse with 4 tsp of so of Tide regular powder and you can dry them on low. These diapers are CUTE and there’s no pins. They snap or velcro on your baby. It’s so cool. But of course, not for everyone. Just thought I’d give you a shout out that they are saving us a ton of money (since I find them on good sales) and they’re kind of fun to use, too.
I’ll be bookmarking your blog. Good to read about you and your family!
Kacey
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Ha ha… Cloth diapers. Believe it or not, it was the iniital COST of cloth diapers that turned me off when my first was a newborn. It seemed like such a lot of money, and quite a bit of icky grunt work too. Now that I’m expecting my 3rd baby, that initial investment of cloth diapers (the cute kind, not the stick a pin in the baby kind) would have been a tremendous savings. Oh well. I was not frugal at that time, but working my way there and filling up the landfills in the meantime.
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Last year we started a garden and grew enough to do some canning. Between getting the gardens ready for the first time and buying the Ball canning kit, I highly doubt we saved any money last summer. And a pressure canner costs more.
This year, however, it will be better. We’ve got most of the materials we need and we’re using heirloom seeds, so we’ll never have to buy seeds again. Plus our garden will be much bigger, so we can justify the time and money going into canning. The only thing I’ll need to restock is salt, vinegar, and another case of jars. I was even lucky enough to find lime and spices marked WAY down in price. Our big expense this spring will be the pressure canner…but then again, we’re planting LOADS of green beans!
In all, initial costs can be high, but it will pay for itself! Next we’re getting honey bees.
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Perhaps this will help you cancel your netflix account…about 90% of the movies we see each year comes from the library for FREE. And they have a great selection and let you put movies on hold if they are not available when you want them. I also get a ton of magazines from the library also – less clutter around the house when you have to return them!
Love your site! Thanks for sharing!
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You might be surprised, but darning your socks is not as bad as it sounds. Our little peanut is always tearing the toe seam in his socks. A couple of stitches in the evening while watching TV and they’re good as new.
Canning is easy, especially if you make freezer jam (I posted about it recently). You can also make a gigantic batch of spaghetti sauce and freeze it instead of canning.
Gardening is fun, especially with the little ones! It’s a great way to get them to try veggies, too. Good luck!
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I have some things I do that are not on you list. Cook everything from scratch (bread, rolls, hamburger buns, hot dog rolls, snacks, etc…), paid bills online, navy showers (might not be worth it because you live in an apartment),compost (if you can), making homemade cleaners, eating all leftovers, surveys, paid emails, point sites, refill printer ink, brown bag lunch, cut DH’s hair, do your own car/house/yard maintenance. If you have a baby; breast feed, cloth diaper, cloth or homemade wipes, and homemade baby food/teething biscuits.
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I use The Grocery Game to save money http://www.thegrocerygame.com
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One thing my daughter does is when she makes cookies she cools them on a sheet of aluminum foil. When she takes the cookies off, she folds the foil once and puts it in the freezer for the next batch.
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Here are a few extra things:
Cut our fabric softener sheets in half. (Works great!) Use half the amount of laundry detergent that it says on the box/bottle. (Also works great!)
Freeze flat soda in ice cube trays either for popsicles or as ice cubes for soda. (The kids love it!)
I second what Kim says about the Grocery Game. It’s awesome!
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One thing that we do to save money is co-op things with friends. For example, we will co-op babysitting with friends that also have 2 kids. We each take a saturday night a month. We also co-op our cooking. Not only does this save time and money, it also exposes us to new recipes! We have a group of 4 friends that will make a meal x4. Then we all meet and swap our meals. It’s much easier to make 4 of the same meal than to make 4 different meals, plus more cost effective, b/c I can plan the meals around sale items! We only do it every couple of months, but it really has been a money saver and a huge blessing as far as time goes too!
I love your site BTW lots of great tips!
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I recently started devoting one post (every Friday) on saving money. This week will be my fifth post on it. Here is the link for week four http://tinyurl.com/nbpjsp . Each post will have a link leading back to the previous week’s post. I have titled it 1,000 ways to Save Money …can I come up with 1,000 ways, well I am working on it.
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Trade babysitting nights with your friends and family. Instead of paying for a regular baby sitter you can offer to have organized play dates and give other couples a break in exchange for your own occasional free break.
On your free break, you can go to a park for a romantic stroll and picnic as free entertainment instead of paying for dinner and movie.
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We make our own laundry detergent. It makes a ton at a time, costs very little, and lasts us forever for each batch. I believe each bath makes 10 gallons? You make it in a 5 gallon bucket and then put it into a smaller container as you use it up, but you are supposed to dilute it 1/2 water, 1/2 detergent when you put it in the second container. I don’t dilute it and just use less, but that part is up to you. If you’re interested in the recipe just shoot me an email!
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Anita Miller Reply:
September 24th, 2010 at 9:50 am
I am interested in your recipe for laundry detergent. Could you please email it to me?? Thank you for sharing!!!!
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Have you tried Redbox instead of Netflix? I never pay for a movie because you can get free codes online all the time.
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what is the recipe for homemade detergent? Can you use it in a front loader?
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Yes, the recipe does work for front loading machines. I have a front loader Whirlpool HE washer and it does a great job.
Here is the laundry soap recipe:
4 Cups – hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup – Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
*Arm & Hammer “Super Washing Soda” – in some stores or may be purchased at Meijer.com. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent – It must be sodium carbonate!!
I have also substituted using Oxi-clean in place of the washing soda, but then I finally found the washing soda at the store, so for my next batch I have decided I will use both.
I have the best luck finding all three of these products at Winco in the laundry aisle. I also found the Fels Naptha at Longs, but that was before they became CVS, so I’m not sure if they kept that product since they’ve started their conversion to CVS.
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Whitney, did your recipe come from TLC’s The Duggard’s recipes?
Cloth just sounds like so much work… How does it work with a front loader?
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I use the library more frequently to check out books and movies. It is free as long as you return them on time. Another way I save money is by not paying for a gym membership and running outside. I also use the perks that my job gives me like a free class each quarter and a discount on my cell phone bill. Sure, it might not sound like much at first but it can really add up over time.
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Love the list! I don’t use cloth diapers but have recently found a site that explains how to make a homemade diaper sprayer (kind of like a bidet) so you don’t have to deal with poop. If I found that when my babies were younger then I might have made the switch. There are also websites for moms to resell cloth diaper supplies, like cover-ups to decrease the start-up expenses that I’ve discovered too late.
A special needs child has forced us to live on 1 income, and we are trying some new ideas here,too! Extreme couponing – a pain but worth it to save $400-500 a month (with 2 in diapers)! Drugstore shopping with coupons – oh, yes, worth it.
I actually just started reusing ziploc bags, that was hard to do without feeling cheap but it makes sense for us and the environment.
We still have Netflix, but am considering cancelling after only watching 1 movie last month and not missing it. We have Red Box and Movie Cube here – $1 for new releases. Red Box has sent us 2 promo codes for free movies in the past 2 months and is now offering reservations. Plus the library. DH is resisting but I think I can wear him down. We usually only watch 4-5 movies a month so I think we’ll be fine.
For housecleaning, I use undiluted white vinegar to mop (safer with 2 toddlers helping) & to clean fingerprints off the glass tabletop,storm door & windows. Don’t dilute & leave on for 5 minutes if you need to disinfect.A tiny drop of dishsoap in hot water, wring out your cloth well so it doesn’t drip, don’t rinse but wipe dry is also an excellent multisurface cleaner and amazing on glass.I get so many cleaners for free or close to free with coupons that if the kids won’t have direct exposure during cleaning then I use what I buy for bathrooms and degreasing.
We are planting our first garden this spring. If it survives me, then we will start to compost. And I will have my neighbor show me how to can. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to can w/out a lesson.
I bought thermal shades for the house on clearance with our last tax refund and they have cut our a/c and heating bills in half – literally! Now I’m in search of more ways to conserve in that area. This next tax refund will go to a window insert for my kitchen door so I can reduce using the lights in the morning when we are in full sun and so I can also start an herb garden in the kitchen. Another first – about to put bubble wrap on my kids window as extra winter insulation, greenhouse style. Energy savings is great but definitely an investment to make changes so this has to be done over time.
I am really getting into the frugal lifestyle, and we are actually buying more brand name items and eating better quality then when shopping with store brands was my main way to save money. And being frugal is spilling over into other areas – I really have low tolerance for wasting food now. And if I’m going to work so hard to find and print a coupon to save $1, then I’m also going to think twice as hard about spending $1 on anything or wasting $1 with my lifestyle.
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Trying to be even MORE frugal with the new year approaching! http://swappinspoons.blogspot.com/search/label/Finance
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For whatever it’s worth, I spent $500 on cloth diapers for our firstborn and, when we thought we weren’t having any more kids, I sold them for $350! Now that baby number 2 is here and I’ve been using disposables for 2 months and watching the garbage man carry away my money every week, I’m ready to invest in Fuzzi Bunz again!
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I do a lot of the stuff you have listed. I find that i love ardening but found that canning only the things we use the most of will actually save us money. So we only can tomatoes and grean beans. I buy can goods in bulk when they are on sale for the rest of the veggies. I also buy in bulk with friends for flour, pasta, etc when I know that the product will be cheaper. I also make my own laundry soap, and we bartered for most of the things in our house. So I have a furnished house and only paid about $100 total. I also found that it is cheaper for us to wash laundry at night vs during the day. I love making homemade xmas presents and cards. I also invested in a bread machine. I make homemad pizza dough and freeze it so that i can just pull it out and use it as i need it.
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Homemade cleaner: White Vinegar. Vinegar disinfects everything and its environmentally safe
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Great ideas and have also done several of them myself. One of my most favorite money and resource savings things though has been the use of a really great second hand shop..look for a good one near a pricier neighborhood….we buy all our toys, jeans and clothing there..and are fortunate that they are both stylish and really really cheap…they also have discount sr days on wednesday..
Our kids ages 8 and 7 now “earn” all of their money and as a result also chose things they want very carefully…and that even includes clothes and book money for school..you would be amazed at how much more carefully they select and treat their purchases. (the money is pretty easy to earn, but even those small projects like emptying the dishwasher buy me more time and make me feel like i have a house keeper here and there).
finally doing the budget plans on the gas and electric have really and truly helped with planning our money based on set amounts. we are challenging ourselves to come in lower than the budget at the end of the yr…
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I used to can my green beans until I froze them one year. My FIL who is a VERY picky eater couldn’t believe he was eating green beans that had been frozen. Snap & wash, then let dry on towel. Put in freezer bags & get out as much air as possible. Flatten bags & put in freezer. I think the taste of food is mainly how it is seasoned & cooked.
I have been wanting to make my own laundry soap to save money. The recipe above looks easy. I am curious how much money is spent on ingredients. I realize price will vary depending on where I live.
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I just stumbled on your site because a friend became a fan on Facebook. I also just saw that you could be ‘talked in to’ using cloth baby wipes and would have to be paid to get in to cloth diapering. It’s all super easy and you could even get cheap by having someone make your diapers for as little as $8/diaper if you find material.
Even easier is using cloth wipes! It took me a while to do this (we cloth diaper for reasons other than saving money). All you have to do is get some cheap fleece -I use no sew fleece blankets that come in a roll. Cut it up in to 8×8 squares and you’ll be wondering why you didn’t do it sooner!
Can’t wait to check out the rest of the site to get re-inspired to save.
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I would add 2 things to your list:
Shop at Goodwill or thirft stores for all your clothes
Get rid of your home phone & just use your cell phone
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Beware…Canning is addicting… I plunged into canning last year and had a grand time! Though we don’t have a huge garden…yet…., i am looking forward to planting warm weather veggies, herbs and flowers soon.
…but hey…there are only so many hours in a day and we can’t do everything, right. It’s nice to dream though
great site…
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Cancel Netflix!!
The Red Box is a buck/night and unless to rent more than 8 or 9 movies a month, Netflix isn’t worth it. Hit the Red Box, watch it that night and as long as you return it before 9pm the next day, it’s only $1.00 (+.06 tax)
Totally worth it
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We’ve found quite a few ways to cut back on what we spend too! Here’s a few:
-build our own furniture (my fiance has built our coffee table, end tables, elevated dog feeders and night stands)
-do our own car maintenance and buy parts on auto part wholesaler sites (we’re both mechanics
-buying meat in bulk (we have a deep freezer…so we buy in bulk, separate it, label it, and vacuum seal it! Lasts us for like 6 months!)
-buy used/second hand/on clearance: we buy off of craigslist, second hand stores, yard sales, etc! Saves a ton!!!
There’s more! But those are some of the biggest things that have saved us money!!!
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You don’t have to MAKE your own baby wipes. We just bought a ton of white regular washcloths. We keep an empty disposable wipe container filled with wet cloths next at the diaper station. We have a plastic bin to throw the dirty ones in. Easy.
We also do cloth diapers but you don’t need to do both.
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