Confessions of a Tightwad

[SOteric]

After participating in a discussion yesterday,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3817338&mesg_id=3817338

I got the notion that having the collected wisdom of DU share some of our various ideas, recipes and techniques for thrift could only be beneficial. I hope you'll all participate, and I'll start the ball rolling.

• Learn to bone out a chicken. You'll save sometimes as much as 50% at the check out counter if you don't pay to have someone else cut up your purchase. From a whole chicken a single person can get as much as 5, possibly six meals plus the carcass makes a great homemade stock for chicken soup. The last whole fryer I bought cost me $3.55.
  
  
• I don't eat beef, but for those that do, here's a tip I picked up from a woman who grew up during the Depression: Always mix your ground beef 50/50 with a whole grain bread or even oatmeal. It'll go farther, sure, but the final product is actually more moist than pure beef, the bread absorbes the flavour and juices from the beef as it cooks. Plus you'll be getting more fiber in your diet and paying less money.
  
  
• Don't put any kind of oil in the water when you make pasta. Seriously. You're just throwing it away. Your pasta will come out perfectly if you just stir it when you put it in the boiling water. Give it a couple of stirs along the way, then drain. If you want to oil your pasta, after it's just been cooked is the right time. Oil floats on the top of the water as it boils, it never reaches the pasta and it's the first thing down the drain when you pour the pasta into a collander. You may as well just be tossing your lovely olive oil straight down the drain.

Okay that's a start. I'll post more later in the day. What are your tips?

:7

[jpgray]

1. As for the oil in the pasta, that's a no-no for another reason

Your pasta can lose its natural stickiness and the sauce will slide right off it, which isn't exactly the idea much of the time.

[Xithras]

50. Oil in the pasta is also a fire hazard.

Since the oil floats on top of the water, it can be atomized and sprayed out of the pot if the water comes to a rolling boil. If you're using a gas range and the atomized oil comes into contact with it, you can get a flash fire (similar to a military fuel/air explosion...very brief but intensely hot).

Oil should NEVER be placed in boiling water.

[TlalocW]

2. Here's mine

Bounce sheets in shoes to keep them from getting stinky.

Ants will not cross a line of talcum powder (and are killed by it). Use this info wisely.

TlalocW

[bearfan454]

3. I buy 10 lb bags of frozen leg quarters for $3.90

I seperate the thighs and drumsticks myself with my filet knife and ziploc bag them and freeze them. Thighs and drumsticks are usually .79 to .99 a lb. You throw some fat away, but you still come out ahead.

[supernova]

4. Here's my list

Make dryer sheets go farther by dabbing the used sheet with fabric softner and throwing in the dryer.

Turn off heating/cooling during the day when no one is home.

Run errands all in one trip. Start with the farthest away first and work your way back home.

Buy meat in bulk, then divide it into individual portions or dinner-sized portions for families. Store the portions in the freezer.

I dont' know of a way to buy cheap produce for singles. I use both the regular and organic stores for weekly veggie/fruit staples. edit: I suppose the farmer's market would be the way to go there. I forgot about that. :dunce:

[trogdor]

6. Stop using the dryer sheets period.

The stuff they put in there isn't good for you, it doesn't smell good, it's bad for the environment, and it doesn't do a damn thing for your laundry.

[Cathyclysmic]

9. agreed, fabric softener and dryer sheets are extra expenses

that are bad for the environment.

[supernova]

11. Then, I'm just a bad liberal

I like my soft clothes. :P

[Cathyclysmic]

19. no, I was just raised by a tree-hugger

:-)

[LeftyMom]

103. Try a vinegar rinse (if you don't have a rinse dispenser use a Downy ball)

and a few drops of essential oil on a washcloth in the dryer. I swear your clothes will smell better and actually be soft. The softner sheets put a waxy buildup on your clothes and keep your towels from being as absorbant as they could be.

[chaska]

107. You could catch on fire too.

[grace0418]

26. I agree with your first points, but not your last.

They keep my laundry from coming out a mass of static cling and giving me terrible shocks.

[JimmyJazz]

45. Dryer sheets are known to suck the fluffiness out of bath towels.

I don't use them, but that's what I've heard.

[grace0418]

49. I haven't had that problem. But I'd still rather have thin towels than

towels that cause electrical fires when I try to pry them apart.

[u4ic]

76. Using white vinegar in the rinse cycle

will take care of static.

[barb162]

87. like how much per load; never heard that before, do the clothes

then smell like vinegar

[youthere]

92. 1/2 cup in the final rinse,..

and no...they just smell fresh.

[barb162]

94. cool; I will try that with the next load, THANKS

[u4ic]

113. The clothes don't smell like vinegar

I fill the washing machine cup (where the liquid fabric softener would be put), for all size loads.

Here are some more uses for vinegar: http://frugalliving.about.com/cs/tips/a/blvinlaundry.htm

[Rabrrrrrr]

57. Yes, fabric softeners, except natural ones, I am A JIHAD against!

Pure fucking environmental waste that serves no purpose of any real value whatsoever.

If we got rid of fabriuc softenerd - liquid and those goddamn sheets - we'd save a SHITLOAD of resources.

If we could people to stop using fabric softeners, and stop using straws, that would save billions of barrels of oil.

[miss_kitty]

63. Marketing bullshit

I remember when there WERE no dryer sheets. Work of the devil:evilfrown:

[Rabrrrrrr]

67. Absolutley. Fuck dryer sheets.

And anyone who uses them, I would love to beat with an earth-killing stick until they get the fucking point of what they're doing to the environment.

"Ooooh, but my towel might have static for a couple minutes after I pull them out! Boo hoo!!! Boo fucking hoo!!"

Well, fuck that boo hoo.

There are people in teh world drinking acid rain becuase we're killing the earth with SHIT WE DON'T NEED.

I don't CARE about your* fucking static!!


(not your static, miss_kitty, the static of the generic fabric-softener-using you)

[miss_kitty]

68. I used the dryer in my apartment building last night.

What came out with the load? A fucking DRYER SHEET!:grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr:
It wrecked my load, but to redo it would be wasteful.

Static happens mostly because:
1) things have synthetics in them; and
2) they get dried too much.

Drying too hard will wear clothes out faster, so take stuff out as it is just dry. I take a lot of stuff out damp and hang it-stuff with elastic. And bras never go it the dryer. It's a little extra work, But it actually saves work and MONEY in the end. For example, I don't have to get new clothes all the time, because my shit does not wear out. And I RARELY have static-most everything I have is 100% cotton.

Edit: spell error

[Rabrrrrrr]

69. And you know, I've been using dryers for years, and never have a problem

with static.

But then, I wear and use only cotton things (in the entirety of my washable wardrobe, I think I only have one shirt with synthetics in it).

I simply don't understand why people bitch about static. I just never come across.

I really don't.


And when I lived in Harlem, I saw a lot of the Dominican women putting three and four dryer sheets into a load! EGADS!!!

[miss_kitty]

70. It goes back to marketing

and petroleum based products used to make fabric. From the same people who brought us the 'need' for the wholesale use of pesticides. x(

[barb162]

89. Here's why in my case

I have 4 cats and cat hair everywhere. When there is static the cat hair never comes off the clothes ort linens; it clings there with all the lint and all the other stuff. When I use softener, the cat hair gets off the clothes and also the lint. Also since hubby is asthmatic re the cat hair I have to get the cat hair off the stuff I am washing one way or another. I never knew there was bad stuff in softener till the last year and I have started using way way less.

[Rabrrrrrr]

96. He's asthmatic to cats and you have four of them?

Holy crow!

Not to say you are wrong, of course.

I am VERY allergic to cats (which is sad because I love them so much). I can't even VISIT a house with cats for more than an hour or two before my allergies and asthma practically kill me.

I can't imagine living with four of the darn things.

God, it's making my nose itch and eyes swell just thinking about it.

[barb162]

99. Yeah and I have bad allergies too. But I am an animal lover

BIGTIME ever since I can remember and so is my entire family. I just clean a lot but I can't imagine not having them ( and their love and antics and playing) around. He uses an inhaler but we try to keep the windows open a lot and then he's better. But when the windows are open I am worse as my allergies are dust, mold, etc. We are sort of like the nursery rhyme couple Jack Sprat and his wife.

I am going to try that 1/2 cup vinegar rinse that the one poster suggested to get rid of the static instead of using the softener. If I can get rid of the static I can get rid of cat hair

[barb162]

90. dupe

[Gormy Cuss]

72. Right on both counts

I have an energy-saving dryer with a moisture sensor. When the humidity in the drum reduces to a certain point the dryer shuts off. The owner's manual warns that clothes will not be hot to the touch, but will be dry. We're conditioned to think items straight out of the dryer should be hot, but that's a sign they have been dried too long. Static in towels and sheets doesn't happen with this dryer. I save money on electricity AND don't need to buy dryer sheets.


I am glad that now that I have W & D of my own there are no more dryer sheet 'gifts'--yuck.

[sendero]

100. LOL....

... I have to agree. I don't use every consumer product that comes down the pike, half of them are useless, including crap like plastic dryer sheets :)

However, I am a sensitive human being. So I'm going to word an alternate admonition for those who find your vehemence hard to swallow.


---------

Dryer sheets are dangerous to children and other living things :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

115. That's a nice way to say it!

or "Dryer sheets are a helpful way for selfish insensitive bastards to kill the earth out from uder the rest of us"

[barb162]

86. but how do you get the static out of your dried clothes if you don't

use the sheets or liquid softener. By the way, I read that there's all kinds of bad stuff in the softeners several months ago so I use a lot less. But I still use a bit re the static.

[Rabrrrrrr]

95. Just don't overdry your clothes.

I've been using gas and electric dryers for YEARS, ones at home, and industrial ones at laundromats, and I've never had a static problem.

Also, use organic/environmentally safe laundry soap. That could also be a first step.

Though lastely I've bveen using the Arm and Hammer laundry soap (which isn't quite environmentally friendly, but that's what I have, until it runs out and I can go back to Seventh Generation stuff), and still no problem with static at all.

I just don't get the static thing.

But someone else upthread said that the static is more prone toward people using earth-destroying synthetics, and not cottons. My stuff is all cotton, so that might also be the reason I don't get static. THough I have no idea as to the truth of the statement that cotton doesn't get staticy.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

101. Another reason they're bad

They gunk up the filters. A repairman told me two things: dryer sheets are dangerous, and you only need to use about 1/4 of the amount of detergent most people use for a load of wash. All those suds are just evidence of waste.

[ScreamingMeemie]

53. MrG and I actually did an experiment last year with the heat/cool thing

and actually came out ahead by keeping the heat/cool on..just at a higher/lower setting. It costs a lot of money to bring a hot house down to cool and vice versa. My suggestion is to raise/lower the temp by 10 degrees when you are not home. :hi:

[Xithras]

54. No, you don't want to turn it completely off.

Right now, it's 100 degrees outside, and without any kind of A/C my house would quickly warm up to 110 or higher inside. Since nobody is at home, my thermostat is programmed to keep the house at about 90...the A/C is still running at that temperature, but not nearly as much. At about 4PM the thermostat will switch down to 79, and the house will be right around there by the time I get home. The power savings from not running the A/C for those extra 11 degrees while we're not home is VERY real.

But you're right. If I shut the A/C off and let the house warm up to 110 degrees, the compressor would be running for hours trying to cool it back off again and completely negate any cost savings. The trick is simply to raise the temperature enough to reduce your A/C usage.

[SOteric]

65. That's actually what my programmable thermostat does,

I have it set to go down to about 60 when I'm not home. Fortunately, extremes of temperature are rare in this part of the country anyway, so for the most part, 60 means it won't come on. But if it does get cold, the cat won't freeze and the temperature won't have far to go later in the day.

Then it comes up to 65 a half hour before I get home and before I get up in the morning, gets up to 68 an hour before I go to bed, and then shuts back down to 60.

With the right kind of opening and closing of doors in the place, it's ideal. I can manually override if there's a need to do so, and I can reprogram it easily for various seasonal or timing changes.

[hobbit709]

5. Years ago

I got a copy of "Cutting Up In The Kitchen" full of helpful hints in how to buy cheaper pieces of meat and turn them into more expensive cuts.

[intheflow]

7. Buy clothes used.

There are great deals to be had if you don't have to be a fashion plate with the latest styles. A greater percentage of the money you spend at a Goodwill, ARC, or Salvation Army will also go more directly to workers than any piece of clothing bought at GAP, Sears, or WalMart.


Actually, you can get lots of good stuff used. I buy used DVDs, books, appliances, cds, and linens.

Also, save money and only buy books and cds you really, really like--take them for a test run via the public library.

[supernova]

8. Yes, I enjoy thrift-store shopping

:-) You'd be surprised what people give away.

[chaska]

108. Let's hear it for dead men's clothes!!!

HIP, HIP...!!!

[SOteric]

10. Not just clothes - !

Pots, pans, crockpots, toasters, - heck even some furniture and lamps.

[supernova]

12. TVs, Microwaves,

I've even seen a few VCRs.

[intheflow]

14. I edited my OP to include that tip.

I haven't had enough coffee yet to think of everything the first time I post anything this morning! LOL.

[jpgray]

13. Absolutely. At Savers, $100 nets fifty shirts

:D

[benny05]

60. Take CDs to a public library to test run them

and wreck their computers? Good use of taxpayer money and of course, replacing computers in public libraries happens only every 3-5 years. True tadwads would not jepordize public property (that is heavily used for e-mail and Internet usage in addition to using databases and online catalogs to locate information) for one's own gain, if they are repukes.

:thumbsdown:

[benny05]

61. correction

unlessif they are repukes.

[intheflow]

64. You misunderstood me.

I meant take them out from the library first before you buy them. Then, if you only like one song but the rest of the cd sucks, you won't have wasted your money.

[benny05]

74. thanks for the clarification

I agree with you there; the caveat is that the most popular will be checked out for awhile. But to add to your idea, if you wait for awhile, there are CD stores that resell used CDs--many of them in pretty good shape, and I think you can "test drive" them at those stores to ensure they work well. I've bought lots of CD's second hand, and they were in very good shape.

[Dora]

77. self-delete

*must read thread before posting*

[benny05]

105. ?

This question is an informational one, as I have seen this "self-delete" quite a few times and it says edited by " ".

What is the purpose of self-delete and how does one do so?

Thanks, Benny

[Dora]

116. It's like this:

You post a witty post, then you return to the thread and read further down and you see that twelve other posters have already said what you said, or you read your post and see that you said something offensive, or you decide that the word you really want to use is "irregardless," no matter what anyone else thinks....

So you click on the "edit" command in the bottom right corner of your post. That allows you correct your post, or if you want, you can just delete all the text and then repost it as a "self-deleted" post.

[Patiod]

80. Shop in rich areas

My one girlfriend makes a boatload of money, but still shops at a thrift store on the Main Line. Most of the stuff still has tags on it, and because she has to dress conservatively for work, she doesn't need this year's styles.

The only downside is that I'm 5'11" and they never have talls, and have few larger sizes. An employee once told me women bring in their clothes as they get fatter, not as they get thinner, so they always have far more 4s, 6s, and 8s then 12s, 14s and 16s.

[intheflow]

84. This is very true.

There're a few great thrift stores around Denver in ritzy areas. I may pay $50 for an outfit, but new, last year or the year before, that outfit cost $350 or more. Clothes, like cars, depreciate the second they leave the parking lot.

And I hear you about the 5'11", even though I have the opposite problem. I'm 5'2" and a size 12. Try finding clothes that size that aren't designed for 5'11" women. :eyes: That being said, my best friend (a woman) is 6' tall and size 12. It's a comedy of errors when we hit the thrift stores together!

[trackfan]

15. Absolutely right about the chicken

Wait until they have the whole chickens on sale for the lowest price -usually 50c/lb. here - then buy and freeze several. Don't forget to save the giblets and neck bones to make stock, which beats the holy hell out of the stuff in the blue and white can.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[supernova]

17. No, we'll have the diamonds,

you can continue to live paycheck to paycheck.

j/k

[pdx_prog]

24. That's paycheck to "almost" paycheck....lol

[SOteric]

18. Shampoo and Laundry Soap

(the liquid kind) can be thinned effectively with water and still do an excellent job.

And about shampoo, - I get many pleasant comments on my hair and I use the cheap stuff, - Suave. I use Suave watered down, even. Still works perfectly. I discovered the watering it down thing when I got to the end of the bottle one time and couldn't get the final glob of shampoo out.

[intheflow]

21. Hmm... I think this one depends on your hair.

I have very long hair. I've tried using Suave, but I have to use so much conditioner it's much more cost effective for me to buy expensive and high quality conditioner because I don't have to use nearly so much and it lasts much longer.

But it's certainly true that you don't have to use as much dish and laundry soap as the bottles recommend. I garden and get muddy and grimy on a regular basis. Yet my clothes get clean using about half of the recommended amount of detergent.

[Kali]

40. just use less, you don't need to water it down

I have a lot of thick hair too, but most shampoo is similar so I use suave but pantene condidtioner for sure.

Don't waste money on liquid detergents you are paying for water and the cost to transport it. You can always mix detergent and warm water before you dump it in machine if you have trouble with it not disolving - and that is another one - wash clothes, and especially rinse, with cold water

[Patiod]

81. Consumer Reports said spend on conditioner, not shampoo

You're better off buying cheapo shampoo, and then splurging on the conditioner, which stays in your hair.

Better yet, but leave-in conditioner, which works really well and doesn't get rinsed out.

[LeftyMom]

104. You can get high end shampoo and conditioner cheap in bulk

Most beauty supply stores sell to the public and you can get the high-end stuff salons use in gallon jugs with pumps.

[Kali]

20. One of the best ways to save money is kind of expensive to start

and that is a freezer. You can buy stuff on sale - even cheese for cooking, bread, veggies and especially meats. Or even better local meat custom processed - but if you have the option and the local store has an in-house butcher, there is almost ALWAYS cheaper cuts of meat you can have ground - Turkey, pork or beef and it can be as fatty or lean as you want, plus you get the bones for stock.

Often frozen veggies are both cheaper and fresher than fresh veggies, though in-season local grown fresh is best and easliy frozen if you have time (blanching is required before freezing or it gets rubbery)

Another saver is a food drier (unless you live in a dry climate) I don't have as much experience with it but what I have tried has been great and even cheaper to store, of course.

Stay out of the middle aisles of the grocery store - that is where all the high priced, over-processed crap is. Shop like a European - fresh produce often, fresh meat (sale stuff to the freezer) and stay away from boxes of "instant" anything.

Make at least twice as much main dish and freeze the extra. And of course eating at home is so much cheaper, but doing it more makes the occasional meal out more affordable AND returns it back to a treat instead of the usual feeling of total regret that a daily diet of fast food usually generates. (with indigestion and finances)

(added bonus is less packaging and trash)

Turn the damn lights off if you aren't in the room!

Combine trips in a vehicle - and get out and walk when you can (almost imposible in our culture, especially out west, but give it a shot)

I have a problem buying used shoes and underwear, but for regular clothes why would anybody pay full price for them? Even my fashion concious teens prefer getting a ton of outfits for $100 as opposed to one pair of jeans! If my teens can adapt ANYBODY can. Hit the thrift stores - good place for kithcen stuff too.

Laundry - do you really need to dry clothes in a machine? I live in AZ so my opinion is that driers are a SIN, but I have friends in Germany who use a clothes line - and its never dry there! Come on, try hanging your laundry outdoors or even in the house (plastic hangars are great and you can always find them 10 or 12 for a buck - sometimes for MUCH less), stop running that machine, - sell it!

(I must be hungry) back to cooking - learn lots of ethnic recipes - they usually use much less meat and are healthier than the standard "meat and potatoes" fare of this country. Soups are another healthy cheap yet really tasty way to eat.

[intheflow]

27. My son whined about used clothes all while he was growing up.

But when if came time for his senior prom, we were looking at spending $80-120 to rent a tux when we didn't have that kind of money to spare. I suggested a trip to the Salvation Army. He rolled his eyes and looked disgusted, but knew he had to humor me or I'd never shut up. We found a gorgeous tux for $25, then spent another $10 to have it altered slightly for a better fit. He's worn that tux three times in 5 years, and is now a solid convert to the joys and advantages of used clothes shopping. :)

[Patiod]

82. If your life takes you places were you have to wear formal wear

buy the damned dinner jacket, don't rent it.

[grace0418]

30. Well, in Chicago, my clothes would either freeze or

be covered with mildew from the humidity. If I dried them in the house (if I had room, which I don't), they'd be covered with cat hair. If I had a yard in which to dry them (which I don't) they'd probably stink like bus exhaust. No thanks. But if I lived in Arizona it would definitely be an option.

[Kali]

42. they still get dry when they freeze!

True! My mother washed diapers in Flagstaff in the winter - it still works. Yeah - cat hair is a problem and one thing driers ARE good for is lint and hair removal, that is for sure! Line drying isn't the easiest for apt dwellers, true, but shirts could be hung on shower rods and if they aren't jammed too close should still get dry (for free)

[barb162]

91. hi neighbor; can you imagine trying to dry clothes yesterday?

They would have been out there 2 days! Yes, when it is zero or a blizzard, it is a bit hard to dry stuff too.

[skygazer]

83. I agree on the dryer thing

I haven't used a clothes dryer in many years - probably close to 15 or 20. I live in California now and I hang my stuff outside in the summer and in the winter, I have a garment rack on wheels that I hang stuff on using plastic hangers (metal hangers leave rust stains) - I park it in the same room as my wood stove. But I used to live in Vermont and I still hung out my clothers - in winter, I strung lines in my basement and it worked fine.

edited to make sense. :silly:

[LynneSin]

22. Cockroaches: Boric Acid

I had to deal with cockroaches. Who knows how they get in there but when they do :cry:

Boric Acid is dirt cheap (Like $1 for a big container of it) and is the most effective way of dealing with the buggars. Make sure you put the stuff in corners hidden away especially if you have cats. The powder will get on the cockroaches's shell and will dehydrated them. But before it kills them they end carrying some of it back to their hiding place and it'll get on other cockroaches.

[DS1]

23. Supposedly you only need to put a lump of toothpaste the size of a pea

on your brush. I've never tried, I usually make a line.

[SOteric]

28. Spendthrift.

:*

[DS1]

31. Some people never learn

:D :*

[short bus president]

29. I always try to make that nifty wavy shape

they show in all the toothpaste commercials. Mmmmmm... aesthetically pleasing hygeine...

[barb162]

93. I started doing the lump thing a few years ago and it works fine

I do the size of say 3 peas though

[short bus president]

25. absolutely right on the chicken...

where are you supposed to cram the beer can in a boneless, skinless chicken breast, anyway?

I also find it's much easier to cook a whole bird and then scaver the carcass for meat after it cools than it is to bone the sucker all raw and gooey. And MUCH easier to get at the "oysters" cooked than raw.

[SOteric]

33. Possibly so, but it's awfully hard

(pun intended) to bread and fry the oysters for an oyster po' boy if you still have the shell on it.

I'm jess sayin.

[supernova]

34. Thass a lota oysters

;-)

[Kali]

37. unless they comein a bag!

Reminds me of the Freak Brothers comic when Freddy cooks the turkey - gives it an overdose of reds and tells the guys it was already stuffed.

[supernova]

32. Take a brown bag lunch to work

Make your own lunch. You can easily spend $10-$15/day on lunch, coffee, etc (depending on where you are.)

I make my lunch on Sunday evenings and put it in little containers ready to go. Then during the week, I just grab a container. It's also much fresher, and I control the calories, fat, salt and sugar that I consume.

[SOteric]

36. Oh absolutely!

I once showed a coworker what she was spending on a latte and pastry every day $6.50, plus a soup and sandwich combo at the local cafe, $10.75 plus tip. She was spending $350 a month just on breakfast and lunch on the days she worked. In a year, that's almost $4,500. More than enough for the tropical vacation she dreamed of taking.

[supernova]

38. Yikes!

When I think of all the money I wasted onlunch when I was younger. :grr: Oh well. Live and learn.

[Southsideirish]

35. Bring sandwiches on a car trip - won't have to stop at those un-healthful

greasy spoons en route.

[Gormy Cuss]

73. keep silverware, reusable plates, and napkins in a container in yr car

When you find yourself in greasy spoon land, a side trip to a local supermarket might be a better choice, especially if you have a full set of utensils in the car. I used to pack a backpacker's flatware set for business trips. It came in handy.

[supernova]

39. Grow your own herbs

Having a little herb garden is very cheap. And the little fancy packages of fresh herbs at the store are WAY overpriced.

[trackfan]

47. Also - if you have to buy,

get the spices in the plastic packs in the Mexican food section. They are about 1/3 the price of the regularly packaged spices. I just save the old bottles, and pour the cheap stuff in there.

[supernova]

48. Yep, also an ethnic grocery

I got a bag of whole nutmegs for 3 dollars at an Indian grocery. :crazy:

[KayLaw]

41. So many have mentioned dryer sheets

I use them but cut them in half as soon as I get home from shopping. Also, I've found that certain food items are less expensive at Target than at the grocery stores, especially the protein bars we eat.

[LynzM]

56. Ooh, for protein bars....

Check www.drugstore.com

I found balance bars to be one of the only things effective to keep my blood sugar up overnight, and I buy them in bulk, there, and save 30%+

[MissB]

43. I think a lot of it is frame of mind

Our family makes a comfy salary and we could certainly afford to buy more things, but we don't. I'm not very good at "consuming". I'd rather buy used than new most of the time.

I see saving money as something of a game. If I keep that frame of mind then I'm less likely to spend oodles of money on crap.

Years ago, I read some stuff on living frugally and living simply. I read the Tightwad Gazette, watched the PBS Affluenza special, and read Your Money or Your Life - all within a couple of months. I think that pretty much influenced my life for the past 7 years or so.

One of the first things I did was to look at my monthly bills and figure out what I was paying on each bill. Was I paying for things on my utility bills that I didn't need?

A good example is the phone company's "inside line service" monthly charge. I think that was roughly a $3 a month savings - but we'd been paying it for years without question. It's mostly useless. The phone company is required to keep the line to your home in working order. Most people either can handle running the wire or know someone who can - in our case, either of us could run new wire inside the house if needed. So we were paying $36 a year for nothing.

After cutting out the waste, the largest variable in our budget was (and still is) food. Making lunches instead of buying saves money. Making granola instead of buying boxes of expensive cereal saves money. Buying up to six months of items that we use when they go on sale saves us money. We could live on what is in the pantry for at least that long, if needed. I don't run out of things that we use on a regular basis - I buy it at a low price. Some people keep price books for this reason.

I also cook a lot of stuff from scratch. I don't buy cans of beans - I buy bulk beans. I don't buy loaves of fancy bread - I make them from scratch.

I also have a garden. We moved here a couple of years ago and it's taken me a bit to establish my new garden. I have asparagus, artichokes, plums, raspberries, strawberries and all the usual summertime veggies. Eventually I hope to have a few more fruit trees.

A lot of people scoff at the stuff that people do to live frugally. It may seem like nickel and dime stuff, but it adds up.

[KG]

44. grow your own kin' bud.

the price of mr natural is outrageous these days! :)

[intheflow]

55. And

smoke less by starting to smoke later in the day. The best buzz of the day is the firt buzz of the day. If you can hold off until 5 or 6pm, it'll cut down on consumption. Also, no need to smoke a whole doob. One or two hits, held in long, will usually give you a fabulous buzz.

:smoke:

[Elidor]

85. Doobage is very wasteful

Use a small pipe and cap the bowl after each hit. I can make an O-Z last upwards of nine months - and that's smoking almost every night.

[JimmyJazz]

46. I bought a little wire thingy at Bed, Bath that attaches to my

kitchen cabinet door and holds grocery bags in lieu of kitchen garbage bags. I haven't purchased a garbage bag in years. Besides, it doesn't make sense to take the time and effort to recycle grocery bags, but put garbage in a purchased kitchen bag.

[Xithras]

51. Buy a programmable thermostat.

At $50-$80 the decent ones can be a bit pricey, but mine reduced my summertime electricity bill from $130 a month to $90 a month, and my winter gas bill from $80 a month to $65 a month, so they pay for themselves fairly quickly.

On a related note, BUY WARM BLANKETS and robes for the winter. It's a complete waste of money to heat your entire house at night when you're only in a few rooms and aren't moving around. My programmable thermostat kicks my heater almost completely off at 10PM in the winter and allows the house temperature to fall to 50 degrees. At 5AM it kicks back on and warms the house back up to 69 degrees by 5:30 when I get up for work. This one tip ALONE saves a huge amount of money in heating costs.

[SOteric]

52. Yep, - that's a good one.

My brother installed one of those gizmos in my apartment and it reduced my monthly billings by almost 3/4 the previous level. With the price of energy these days it rapidly pays for itself and then starts netting a bonus.

[SOteric]

58. Learn to make your own pasta.

The ingredients are flour and water, its costs is pennies per serving. And a little flare will have you making garlic & lemon, various herbs, all sorts of tasty pastas that make you completely forget Ramen ever existed.

[redqueen]

59. This has to be one of the best threads ever.

I'm bookmarking this puppy!

[miss_kitty]

62. I don't buy clothes anymore

I have very few shoes. That's a lie. I have major shoeage, but haven't bought fancy shoes since 1990. I spend a lot on my utilitarian shoes (Blundstone, RedWing and Dansko) and I have them repaired. THey last for years. I used to have my pumps repaired as well and have a few pair I've never worn in the 15 years since I bought them.
I get my sister's and her friend's throwaways, which are often never worn or only worn a couple times choice items.

I'm going to quit using oil in my pasta. :)

[SOteric]

66. Don't use credit for anything but emergencies

and pay it off as quickly as you can.

Credit cards and minimum balances are an F'ing expensive way to spend your money.

[MsAnthropy]

71. Here's a bunch!

1. Budweiser beer conditions the hair
2. Pam cooking spray will dry finger nail polish
3. Cool whip will condition your hair in 15 minutes
4. Mayonnaise will KILL LICE, it will also condition your hair
5. Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead skin and blackheads if any
6. Shiny Hair - use brewed Lipton Tea
7. Sunburn - empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water
8. Minor burn - Colgate or Crest toothpaste
9. Burn your tongue? Put sugar on it!
10. Arthritis? WD-40 Spray and rub in, kill insect stings too
11. Bee stings - meat tenderizer
12. Chigger bite - Preparation H
13. Puffy eyes - Preparation H
14. Paper cut - crazy glue or chap stick (glue is used instead of
sutures at most hospitals)
15. Stinky feet - Jell-O!
16. Athletes feet - cornstarch
17. Fungus on toenails or fingernails - Vicks vapor rub
18. Kool aid to clean dishwasher pipes. Just put in the detergent
section and run a cycle, it will
also clean a toilet. (Wow, and we drink this stuff)
19. Kool Aid can be used as a dye in paint also Kool Aid in Dannon
plain yogurt as a finger
paint, your kids will love it and it won't hurt them if they eat it!
20. Peanut butter - will get scratches out of CD's! Wipe off with a coffee filter paper
21. Sticking bicycle chain - Pam no-stick cooking spray
22. Pam will also remove paint, and grease from your hands! Keep a
can in your garage for your hubby
23. Peanut butter will remove ink from the face of dolls
24. When the doll clothes are hard to put on, sprinkle with corn
starch and watch them slide on
25. Heavy dandruff - pour on the vinegar!
26. Body paint - Crisco mixed with food coloring. Heat the Crisco in the microwave, pour in to
an empty film container and mix with the food color of your choice!
27. Tie Dye T-shirt - mix a solution of Kool Aid in a container, tie a rubber band around a section of the T-shirt and soak
28. Preserving a newspaper clipping - large bottle of club soda and
cup of milk of magnesia,
soak for 20 min. and let dry, will last f or many years!
29. A Slinky will hold toast and CD's!
30. To keep goggles and glasses from fogging, coat with Colgate
toothpaste
31. Wine stains, pour on the Morton salt and watch it absorb into the salt.
32. To remove wax - Take a paper towel and iron it over the wax
stain, it will absorb into the
towel.
33. Remove labels off glassware etc. rub with Peanut butter!
34. Baked on food - fill container with water, get a Bounce paper
softener and the static from the Bounce towel will cause the baked on food to adhere to it. Soak overnight. Also; you can use 2 Efferdent tablets, soak overnight!
35. Crayon on the wall - Colgate toothpaste and brush it!
36. Dirty grout - Listerine
37. Stains on clothes - Colgate
38. Grass stains - Karo Syrup
39. Grease Stains - Coca Cola, it will also remove grease stains from the driveway overnight.
We know it will take corrosion from car batteries!
40. Fleas in your carpet? 20 Mule Team Borax- sprinkle and let stand for 24 hours. Maybe this
will work if you get them back again.
41. To keep FRESH FLOWERS longer Add a little Clorox, or 2 Bayer
aspirin, or just use 7-up instead of water.
42. When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever
wondered which is the freshest, so you "squeeze" for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered
fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday,
Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie. They are: Monday = Blue, Tuesday = Green, Thursday =
Red, Friday = White and Saturday = Yellow. So if today was Thursday, you would want red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)! The colors go alphabetically by color
Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very
easy to remember. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have
different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have
different colors. You learn something new everyday! Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping.

[ulysses]

75. 2nd day coffee

The day after you make a fresh pot, leave the grounds in the coffee maker and just add half the amount you'd normally use.

I forget the name of the book I got that from. The Tightwad Gazette?

[spinbaby]

78. Yech

Day-old coffee grounds. Yuck!

Better just to get one of those one-cup coffee makers from Melitta. It's a cone thing that sits on top of your coffee cup and you pour boiling water through it--you know, make coffee manually. Because you only make one cup, you don't drink a whole pot just because it's there.

[ulysses]

79. I drink a lot of coffee.

A one-cup won't work. :)

[OldLeftieLawyer]

102. Don't do it!!!

I heard this from Loretta Lynn years ago, so we tried it.

A great way to waste coffee. It doesn't work.

[Lars39]

111. I've known folks to put leftover coffe from the pot

into a mason jar and stick it in the fridge.
They haul it out the next day and warm it up.

[Blue_Tires]

88. wonderful stuff

i'll mark this for later

[Elidor]

97. Shop at Big Lots

I buy a lot of stuff at Big Lots (not sure what other parts of the country they're in). Housewares, groceries, even the occasional software title. And coffee! Good coffee can be had there for about $1.50 a pound! (Just stay away from that awful Chase & Sanborn crap).

Of course, my mother taught me all about thrift stores. And my SO is a big thrifter, too.

Never buy the milk at the front of the shelf. The stuff behind it will last longer. And ALWAYS check the eggs before you put them in your basket.

[youthere]

98. Here are mine...

1. I don't buy laundry detergent...I buy a huge bottle of Ivory liquid dish soap...then I mix 1 to 7 with water and use it to wash clothes just like regular liquid laundry detergent, it works so much better and it's much less expensive.

2. I don't use fabric softener. I use plain white vinegar in the final rinse. The clothes come out fresh smelling and static/lint free. I think (can't prove it) that it strengthens the fibers because I've noticed a whole lot less lint in the dryer trap since I switched to vinegar.

3. The ONLY cleaning products I use: Baking soda, ammonia, lemon juice, rubbing alcohol and occasionally Bleach. With those ingredients you can pretty mush clean ANYTHING.

4. Hang a clothesline up and use it. OFTEN

5. Eat vegetarian as often as you can. It's cheaper and healthier. If you can't do that, start to think of meat as a flavoring rather than the main part of the meal-you'll use less and save money.

6. Cook from scratch, as much as you can. Everyone is busy these days, don't let that be your excuse. With a some good planning you'd be surprised how much you can cut down your grocery bill. (ie: cooking double batches of casserole and then freezing the extra)
7. If you have a yard, grow a garden, if not visit the farmer's markets in your area. Very often the veg is organic, and much cheaper than the grocery store. If you visit close to the closing time, you can get REALLY good deals.

8. Visit goodwill, and make use of garage sales in your area.

9. For things such as linens, furniture, and appliances-try to make do without until you have saved enough to afford to buy good quality. It will last longer and you save money not buying replacements.

10. Never throw food away if you can help it. This takes planning and vigilance-and sometimes a lot of creativity.

11. If you are frying, instead of draining the food on a pile of paper towels, try one towel on a pile of newspaper. Use cloth napkins, and clean rags inplace of paper towels. You have to do laundry anyway...a few more small items really aren't going to create a huge burden.


Ummm..that's all I can think of.

On Edit: I almost forgot...LEARN HOW TO SEW! At the very least to repair small tears, replace buttons, fix hemlines etc.

[Lars39]

110. Exactly what size bottle of Ivory is it?

I've seen a lot of recipes for laundry detergent, but that's the first time I've seen dish detergent used. :hi:

[youthere]

114. The biggest one you can find...

It's usually pretty cheap (compared to Dawn or other brands). You can mix it for qashing clothes, dilute it (1 to 3) for dishes, and you can also dilute it (1 to 5) for washing hands (refill those little pump dispensers). It's a good buy. It doesn't have the pretty smell that a lot of other soaps have, but it also doesn't have the harsh detergents.
Also:Too much dishsoap can gunk up your pipes and make them drain slower, so if you use less, your plumbing will work better.

[chaska]

106. When the bar of soap gets too small to use...,

wet it and a new bar and leave them to meld like new lovers.

[LeftyMom]

109. Churches have the best garage sales

because the ladies running the sale aren't attatched to the stuff and don't want to get rid of it after the sale they let it go real cheap. If you show up on the last day sometimes they have "bag sales" where everything you can stuff in a bag is a fixed price.

I got just about all my son's winter clothes, plus stuff for the neighbor kids and the girls I babysit for less than $10 by yard sale shopping this summer. The best deal was a church sale where I bought a kitchen trash bag full of mostly high-end brand kids clothes and bedding for $4. :D

[Blue_Tires]

112. not really a saving tip, but scrounging....

is there a large public university in your area? at the end of the semesters, college students (especially freshmen) are NOTORIOUS for being incredibly wasteful, ditching perfectly good things mom and dad bought that they don't want or can't take home when they move out of the dorms/student housing...When i was in grad school, homeless, junkmen, and pawners (who would bring their trucks and just load up) would hang out around the dumpster on moving out day...
In grad school, i never paid for: backpacks, notebooks, pens/pencils, reference books, computer software, basketballs, desk lamps, and other furniture....you could probably find a lot more if you tried

[calico1]

117. Some of you may be like me.

You have a few bottles of some shampoo lying around that you didn't quite like or didn't quite work like you thought it would. Instead of leaving it lying around you can use it to refill your liquid handsoap dispenser. It is also good in your laundry room for removing grease stains and ring around the collar stains. Also, for these dispensers dishsoap is much cheaper or cheap shampoo. I was in the store last week. They had the 8 oz. bottle of Softsoap on sale for 99 cents. They had the 15 oz. bottle of Suave shampoo on sale for 50 cents. I bought some of those and will use it for my dispensers.

I also buy whole chickens. Learn to cut them up and you will save a fortune rather than pay for the convenience of buying precut.

Cook from scratch as much as you can and try not to buy things like pancake mix, cake mixes, etc. Make your own. Good cookbooks to get for scratch cooking are cookbooks published either before or during WWII because this was before convenience foods started being used a lot. And books printed during the war will give you tips on streching foods, although you may not need (or want) to use all the tips.

Do not allow marketers to create a need for you--- Such as disposable toilet brushes or battery operated dish brushes. Its ridiculous all the "needs" companies are coming up with and all the people getting sucked into buying these things. Unless you have mobility problems you should not need any of this stuff. Plus its more garbage in the landfills.

I am going to try the vinegar rinse this weekend.