Frugal Living

[Bumble Bee]

I absolutely love my job, but I am not making very much money and am looking for ways to cut costs wherever possible. I am running low on some of my supplies, and would like to make my own.

I purchased an espresso machine to make my own coffees, which has been wonderful. It has saved me so much in coffee money! So I have been trying to think of different things I can make instead of buy.

Recently someone has posted about making some homemade laundry soap, and I think I will try that. I also was wondering if there are any recipes for homemade shampoo/conditioner or body wash? Or if anyone has tips for other forms of frugal living?

 

[K9_Trainer]

I've heard of some people washing their hair with baking soda and using an apple cider vinegar rinse. I'm sure that would be inexpensive. I haven't tried it myself, but I've been told it takes a while for your scalp to adjust. If you use shampoo regularly, your scalp is used to having all the oils stripped from it, which can often cause it to overproduce oil to replenish what was lost between washing. But if you stick with it and deal with being greasy for a while, everything will balance out and you'll have beautiful, soft hair.

White vinegar also makes a good general cleaning agent for countertops, the stove, bathroom, floors etc. It can also help boost the absorption level of towels. Towels tend to collect oils and it makes them less absorbent. If you add some vinegar to the rinse cycle when you do a load of towels, it's helps.

As far as other frugal living tips: Buy bulk when/if you can. Things like rice, flour, sugar....Much cheaper by the 50 pound sack. You just have to have a place to put it, and buy food grade tubs/buckets that will seal bugs out. Baking your own bread can save money too when you buy the ingredients bulk, it just takes more time. Also, when products you use go on sale, stock up.

Cutting meat out of your diet can save a lot. Same with dairy. Cook your own meals, make your own lunches, don't eat out.

Coupons can save a lot of money. Even if it's 50 cents here and there, it adds up over the course of a year. You can sometimes strategize coupon use to get even more out of them as well and read the fine print. Sometimes coupons are good for more than one item. Or you can combine manufacturer's coupons and store coupons, or use manufacturer's coupons when the store is already having a sale on the item. Ask your neighbor's for their ads. Look up super couponing, it really is a thing.

 

[Angeldove97]

My way of saving money is by actually buy good products- even if that means that I have to pay extra. I don't buy salon shampoo/conditioner, but I will pay $8 a bottle at the super market for a brand that I know works really well for my hair- mainly because it means I don't have to use as much of it to work well.

I also buy the best kind of dishwasher packets and a booster because if I buy the cheaper stuff my dishes won't actually be clean- I'll have to wash them by hand (which uses more soap). With the better cleaning products, I can use less electricity and less cleaning products to get the job done.

With my cell phone, I stick to just making calls and texts- I don't have a smartphone so I don't have to worry about paying for a data plan. Instead, I choose to pay $70 for fast internet and I'm able to use either one of my laptops (I have a personal one and one my job gave me) or the tablet my job gave me to access the internet. (You might want to look into a company called Trackphone (I think maybe Tracphone) that uses big name cell phone wireless infrastructure but has cheaper plans- we're thinking about switching to this since our contract is up and we're paying $80 to $100 which is honestly too much)

We also save money by having a Roku streaming stick- we pay about $20 to have Hulu Plus and Netflix. My friend can download movies and TV shows I want to see and puts it on his Plex server. So I can literally watch whatever I want to for $20.

I also don't buy a lot of new clothes- I go to a lot of thrift stores a few times a month so I can find the clothes that I need for my job and for non-work clothing. I can usually buy 5+ [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] and skirts for about $20.

Turn off lights- we normally have 1 light on in the house (our apartment's layout works well) and 1 in our bedroom.

 

[HonestTruth]

Good topic - I'm surprised there are so few replies.

My way of saving money - borrowing books/albums/movies from the library (almost always from the Bookmobile).

When my clothes start to get musty - that is, smell old or mildewy - soak them in Borax. Makes the even the oldest clothes smell like roses.

Don't throw away leftovers! Use them as side dishes in your next meal.