I am always looking for ways to be frugal! Right now it is out of necessity, but even if I did not HAVE to, I do not think I would do things any differently! Just some helpful tips I have used to help me spend less AND some things that are just helpful tips:
- use coupons and clip, clip, clip!
- start a coupon co-op with some family and friends
- join a coupon club, I use http://www.savingsangel.com/ and a helpful coupon blog with even free idea's is http://www.coupongeek.net/
- look for stores that are having sales on the items you have coupons for so you save even more
- buy many of those items and stock up
- When you get to bottom of cereal bags and there is just not enough left for another bowl but too much to throw away, save them and combine all of them making a new hodge-podge cereal! Kids love it!
- use 1/4 of what the laundry detergant box calls for, they tell you way more than necessary so you will buy more!
- menu-plan for a month at a time then go to the store for ONLY the things on your list
- rotate the meals every 2 weeks (this means you will have 14 different meals 2x's and month and leaving 2 or 3 extra days for left-overs)
- bake from scratch whenever possible! Better for you and lots cheaper! An average meal for my family of 13 costs me around $7-$10!
- drink water instead of other drinks! Also better for you and cheaper!
- I love to move funiture, so to prevent scratches on the floor, put socks on the legs of the furniture
- for water stains on tables, rub mayonnaise on the stain, leave over night and wipe off in the morning. (I can't stand the smell of it, so I would cover it with plastic wrap!)
- bathroom mirrors won't fog up if you clean them with shaving cream!
- laundry marking system- One dot from a permanent felt-tip pen marks the oldest child's clothes tag: the fifth child has five dots, etc. When it's hand-me down time, all you do is add another dot. Not color codes to change, not names or initials to read!
- if you are changing knobs on dressers and they keep coming off, or as in MY house, kids twist them off, put a coat of fingernail polish on the screw part and put them back on. Makes them stay tighter longer!
- buy all the same color socks for kids in your familly. We choose white for the bigger kids, and for the younger ones, they have white with grey bottoms. If the oldest kids want different ones, they sort their own! :) Even your husband can have all the same style of different dress socks! Makes sorting a breeze! I have all white with pink heals, and my girls have white with pink bottoms
- make or buy washable wipes! Even if you don't use them for little ones anymore, they are handy for older kids to use for thier hands! You can also buy cheap washcloth bundles and use those too! I have saved sooooo much money by doing this. (I do make and sell them if you are interested!) Saves lots on paper products!
- always dilute cleaners. They are way to concentrated as they are! I buy mine at the Dollar Tree and they work better than any other name brands I have bought, and guess what? They only cost $1! :)
- I try to fry up my hamburger when I get it home and then put it in baggies and toss into freezer. Cuts meal prep time in half!
Hoping at least one of these helps make your life a touch easier! Please feel free to leave me some of your helpful tips to make MY life easier! :)
