Simple Savings Tips

So, here I am pressed for time, but really want to make sure I keep up with my posting. I tried doing this yesterday, but then got on a topic that I couldn’t stop writing about; kids and financial education. However, today I am behind on a paper for school, so I will keep it simple and to the point. I like being frugal, my husband is learning to like it, though I don’t think it will ever be as fun for him. There are way too many things he ‘wants’, the list is endless. He frequently reminds me of a small child who wants everything he sees or hears about. But this is a whole other subject! Moving on, here are some frugal, and painless, tips I’ve learned through reading other posts and through my own experience:

• Make your own household cleaner: Vinegar and Baking Soda are excellent cleaners. If you add vinegar and baking soda to a spray bottle full of water, you can clean counter tops quickly and inexpensively. Another great inexpensive cleaner is Borax. Borax does a pretty good job on porcelain, it makes it sparkle with a little elbow grease.
• If you really don’t have the time or patience to make your own household cleaner, try buying a large jug of Simple Green. If you buy it in concentrate, it will last years. Ten years ago I bought a large jug, every weekend I fill up my spray bottle with 1/2 Simple Green and 1/2 water. I just ran out of that jug of Simple Green last weekend! It only took 10 years.
• Mend the frayed bottoms of pants and jeans with trim. I’ve never been much of a clothes shopper to begin with, so it isn’t difficult for me to say, “I don’t have the time or money to go shopping right now!” Instead, this past year I have mended the bottoms of frayed pants with scrap fabric by sewing on another hem. Measure out the fabric around the bottom of the pant leg, and fold it in half (one half inside the leg, the other outside). Then, iron the scrap fabric to make a crease. Using a sewing machine, stitch around the pant bottom. I don’t own a sewing machine, so I borrowed my mother’s. This worked wonderfully, since she was able to assist me in my mending escapade. When you are finished, if you measured evenly, you should have decorative pant bottoms.
• Take your own lunch to work. This is much healthier anyway. Who needs all that grease from fast food restaurants?
• Ride your bike or walk. For short distances, you can save money and gas by walking or riding your bike if you are traveling within a 2-3 mile radius. Also, this tip is for parents; recently Treehugger posted an article about how kids can’t navigate their neighborhoods anymore. They spend so much time in the car, they have no clue how to get to school or to the grocery store. Get outside and walk your kids around the neighborhood! It’s great exercise for the both of you.
• Purchase a Netflix subscription. Netflix has really affordable membership rates, starting as low as $8.99 a month. You can’t beat this price, it’s less than the cost of one movie ticket. This will reduce the money spent on going to the theaters.
• Ditch your lawn. I recently wrote a post about Losing the Lawn. Lawns are water-thirsty plants! They need a lot of water and water is becoming an expensive commodity. There are so many great alternatives today, if you live in a region where rainfall is scarse or not as frequent as it use to be, this may be a great money saving option.
• Search for coupons before shopping. There are so many coupons available on the web now, it’s silly not to first look to see if there is a coupon on an item you are thinking of purchasing. Look for coupons first, like Coupon Cabin, before spending that hard-earned dough!

These are just a few of so many! Please excuse my poor grammar, I didn’t have a lot of time to double check myself. Hopefully, you can use some of these in your everday frugal life.