Friday, February 6, 2009

Frugal Tips

Frugalness must go beyond coupons and grocery shopping. Whenever I give my coupon classes, I try to emphasize other frugal tips that can be employed to save money.

1) We only use cloth napkins. I love cloth napkins for several reasons. One, is that they add a cute flair to even the smallest meal. The other reason they are great, is that you save money not buying paper towels. Using the cloth is also quite eco-friendly. In the long run, it really doesn't add to the laundry load much more.

2) I always carry a big 32 oz. hiking water bottle with me. This makes sure that I don't get thirsty when I'm out shopping or at school. I can easily refill without having to buy soft drinks or bottled water. You can save a lot of money not buying a drink throughout the day!

3) I cook large amounts on my big cooking days and freeze the rest. Home-made frozen meals are great when neither of us feel like cooking, and thus save us money by not going out or ordering in food.

4) Whatever clothes or blankets that I don't donate to Goodwill or give away at church giveaways, I reuse and make into fun craft projects for Mia. A lot of old cloth becomes fabric dolls, a small purse, new baby blankets, etc. She actually places with the fabric dolls more than her others..

5) We use free Redbox codes to rent new DVDs, then make our own popcorn at home, and don't have to pay for a babysitter!

6) I make a lot of my own cleaning products. It's not hard, it's always organic, and I don't have to worry about what my family is breathing.

7) We save all of our spare change in a really large cider jug. At the end of each month, we use it to either do something fun, go out to eat, or maybe save it for a big treat. (We saved for months to get David a new TV--all from the spare change jar!)

8) I buy almost all of Mia's clothes at Orchard's M.O.M or Once Upon a Child. I am very picky, and only buy the clothes that still have the original tags on. OUAC also has store appreciation cards, and you get 15% back when you fill up your card. Such cute clothes for almost nothing.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so excited to read these thoughts coming from a young woman. You have grasped early on how important it is to not be wasteful.....good for you. This comment left by an older woman who just put the ends of bread into the food processor and made bread crumbs, then ground oatmeal to make oatmeal bread and finally ground up stale brownines to use as sprinkles on whatever desserts need a little 'pick me up".

Anonymous said...

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