I was sick again yesterday morning. To console myself, I made a cup of cocoa. As I was preparing to add the required three tablespoons of chocolate powder, it occurred to me that maybe I could get by with two tablespoons. I’d be saving calories and money at the same time!
The cocoa wasn’t quite as good as usual, but it was good enough. And by dropping to two tablespoons instead of three, I saved 33% (or about 29 cents).
Now obviously saving a few pennies on an occasional cup of cocoa isn’t going to make me a rich man, but this principle can be applied to other aspects of my life. That’s what thrift is all about: learning money-saving skills that can be transferred from one situation to another. When we use enough of these skills in enough places, the savings can be substantial.
One way to save money is to use less of things.
How much dishwasher detergent do you use, for example? I used to fill the soap containers to the rim. Sure, the dishes got clean, but do you know what? They get just as clean now that I fill them only halfway. (And I sometimes wonder if I could use even less detergent.)
There are many ways we can cut back on the things we use. Some of these are systemic changes: you might, for example, decide to eat less meat in order to reduce your grocery bill, or to drive less to save on fuel and maintenance.
Here are a few specific examples of how cutting back from the norm can save you money:
- Toothpaste. How much toothpaste do you really need? The instructions on Kris’ current tube say that she should “apply at least a 1-inch strip of the product onto a soft bristled brush”. Instead, she uses the pea-sized amount that once was the standard.
- Shampoo. Lather, rinse, repeat? The instructions on many packages are written from the manufacturer’s perspective, not the consumer’s. Use the directions as guidelines. Judge for yourself just how much shampoo (or anything else) works for you.
- Juice and drink mixes. Juice and beverage mixes can be made more dilute and still quench your thirst. Again, this saves calories as well as pennies. Made according to the directions, some drink mixes are too sweet for adult tastes anyway. Try increasing the volume of water by 50%.
- Pet food. If I were to feed my cats as much as the package suggested, they would look like enormous tribbles. Instead, I give them as much as they’ll eat in a day. It took a while to find that amount, but we have it now, and that’s what they get.
- Engine oil. The 3,000-mile oil change is a myth propagated by quick-lube places to get you in their doors more often. Most vehicles can go much farther between service appointments. This isn’t one you should experiment with, though. Failure to change your oil frequently enough can ruin your engine. Check your owners manual for the recommended interval. (It’s unlikely to be just 3,000 miles!)
- Shopping. Earlier this month, I shared how America’s Cheapest Family saves more by shopping less. By grocery shopping just once a month, they make better use of their money. Kris and I aren’t ready to make that leap, but we’re earnestly trying to limit ourselves to one trip every two weeks. (With a quick supplemental trip for milk and produce.) So far, so good.
- Water. When we first bought a house, I watered our lawn often. I paid to have a green lawn. Now, however, I’m happy to let the grass go dormant. I don’t water the lawn at all during the summer. The grass “dies” in July and August, but becomes green again when the rains return in September.
A friend of mine once worked for a large consumer-goods conglomerate. Recently he confided, “Some companies mess with cap and lid sizes as a way to increase consumption. Want a bottle of laundry detergent to run out faster? Then increase the cap size slightly. Many people use a capful per load.” Manufacturers want us to use more than we need.
In many cases, it’s possible to use less of something and still get satisfactory results. Cutting back can save you money, but finding the right amount can take a little trial and error. Don’t let it fluster you.
You might, for example, cut back too far on dishwasher detergent and find one load doesn’t get completely clean. That’s okay. Next time, use a little more. The key is to cut back until you notice a difference. (Or, more precisely, until the difference crosses your “irritation threshold”.)
Have you been able to reduce the amount or frequency with which you use certain products? What sorts of things have you cut back on?
Photo by Joel Telling.
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We were raised to be non-consumers. Everything got used, reused, and used again, so the quality-of-living thing isn’t really an issue for my family. Some of these tips might be common knowledge, but I’ll reiterate anyway.
Reclaiming water: don’t water houseplants with fresh tap water. When you’re running your shower water waiting for it to warm, put a bucket there and use that water for something else instead of letting it go down the drain.
Consuming less: I don’t buy paper towels, garbage liners (plastic bags from stores and a small garbage can work for my family of two), fabric softener (half-cup of vinegar in the rinse works), “specialty” cleaners (Dr. Bronner’s pretty much cleans everything).
Reuse and repurpose: We reuse and repurpose everything. Takes some creativity, but my home is clean/uncluttered and we have the smallest garbage service offered (and that’s still way more than we need).
Recycle: You probably pay for it with your city/water bill, and if you use it fully you can reduce the size of your garbage service.
I make above-average income, but all of our furniture (except a bed) is used. Two of us live in 765 square feet, and I find that space is adequate and in some cases, more than enough. Most of our clothing is used, broken earrings become parts of crafts, etc. It all adds up!
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I’ve been using less meat in some dishes. Mainly because my brother has been living with me recently and he doesn’t eat vegetables, so I’m sneaking in veggies.
I replace 1/3 the meat with fillers like onions, carrots, celery in dishes with ground beef or sliced meat. I add grounded flax seed to add some Omega3 as well. Much cheaper than salmon.
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Cut back on shampoo (and shampooing)! You not only save money on toiletries, you save water and time with shorter showers; time, electricity, and the health of your hair by not blow-drying daily, etc.
I’m a HUGE convert to Federic Fekkai’s dictum that no one should ever wash their hair daily. He recommends shampooing no more than once or twice a week (and conditioning every other day if you have very dry hair); I typically shampoo twice a week (unless I’m sweaty, was around cigarette smoke, used serious product, etc); I try to keep it to every other day in summer.
Shampoo takes all the essential healthy oils out of your hair, then conditioner puts less effective chemical oils back in. Really? Just try it. Keep you hair dry in the shower, and brush your hair morning and night. The action of brushing your hair (or just rubbing your fingers in your scalp dry) actually is more cleansing than any shampoo.
My hair has never, ever been this gorgeous or manageable, and I always get tons of compliments right around the third day of not washing.
It was good enough for our grandmas…!
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Along the lines of the laundry detergent…
If you use fabric softener sheets (dryer sheets), try cutting them in half. I have been doing that for about a year now and they work just as well. I have considered cutting them into thirds or quarters to see how that works out but haven’t done it yet.
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I use less cocoa powder too!!!!! I cut back on needing to use dryer sheets by line drying my clothes.
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I also never use fabric softener. In addition to being an extra cost in itself, it dulls colors and blacks and wears down fabric faster, so you spend more on clothing over time.
For cocoa, I use less water with the regular recommended amount, because I like my cocoa strong. I used to use twice as much powder, but I realized I am fine with just half a cup.
I find using a poof or washcloth helps me use a lot less body wash-just a few drops is enough to clean my whole body.
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In response to comment #30 – You are so right. The wealthy DO care. That’s how many got that way and stay that way. I worked with a guy (teacher) who was a multi-millionaire. He drove the oldest car in the parking lot – had to put a can of oil in it before driving home each night. He wore the same old clothes all the time – nothing fancy or flashy and he kept all his money in safe accounts where he had only $100,000.00 per bank – needless to say he dealt with many, many banks. His sister was also the VP at one of the banks. One day he showed me his “slush fund”, which was his checking account while he was wondering what to do with it. Balance there was $79,000.00. This rich man was frugal and I think very smart with his money. He had fun, spent a little bit every now and then, but concentrated on saving.
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a little off topic but since i have four (!! –don’t ask, even I’m not sure) cats, catfood is a big expense. so I understand the ellusive “right” amount of food without waste.
Of course I know all cats are different etc. but I’m curious, how much do you feed that is within this non-wasteful optimal amount?
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@Charles Baisden
While I agree that people may want to think twice about letting their lawn die, I do think that grassy lawns are a waste, especially if you live in a dry climate like I do in Southern California.
I gave up the front lawn business and planted a low water garden. I chose plants from New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and So.Cal. which could use little water. It looks great. I have drip irrigation throughout so they get the water they need with no waste.
I still have curb appeal. I use less water. I have a garden to enjoy. I am helping the environment and saving money.
I have only a small patch of lawn in the back, and only put it in at all because I was told that having no lawn might affect my resale value. It gets just enough water to stay alive and the rest of the front and back yard is drip irrigation and low-water plants.
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The tip about diluting juice caught my eye. My boyfriend is British. The last time we visited the UK, we went on an outing and his mother packed us a lunch. Included in it was a bottle of juice and water. The instructions on the bottle of juice said to mix with water. It made me think about how oversweet Americans tend to consume things.
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@ frugel bachelor: You use a LOT more soap by washing dishes by hand and keeping up on them by washing every day or even every other day, when you’re by yourself. My grandmother goes through about a dishwasher load once a week, living the life of a typical person living alone (eating out on a fairly regular basis, lots of glasses/mugs, mostly plates from re-heating foods). Even with me living here cooking all my meals at home, we only run the washer twice a week.
And hey, there’s no need to be so rudely disparaging about people who choose to use dishwashers. Do you think an elderly person is going to stand there on their arthritic knees with their congestive heart failure that precludes long periods of standing, and wash a load of dishes? Do you think it costs less money than the time I have to build into my day between classes and work–which means either letting my academics slip or working less–to do DISHES? Do you think if I didn’t have a dishwasher I would be more inclined to eat out, which costs more money, because it would take less time than having to build the time of washing dishes into my day/week? You betcha.
Others have already made the point that you can save water with a dishwasher. Did you know it costs about 11 cents of water per load of dishes in our dishwasher, and about 50 cents to a dollar for a load of dishes in the sink that washes half the dishes? 50 cents if you fill the sink and only run water to rinse, closer to two if you wash them like my ex and most people do–wait til every dish in the house is dirty, sponge full of soap, hot water on full blast, pre-rinse, scrub, rinse, then move onto the next item…
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@Christine Groth:
I used to work for an internet marketing company, and this looks like link baiting to me. What’s your relation to the site you are promoting?
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I like this blog a lot but this is bordering on “this guy is no fun to hang out with he’s so cheap”.
Stick with the Mfg suggested oil change, in newer cars its about 5,000 miles and 3,000 is being safe in an older car.
Also, get rid of your grass and put some local flora in if you don’t want to water it. Spare the neighbors looking at your brown grass, that’s rude.
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i drink tap water instead of bottled water
i use the same teabag twice
when shampoo is low.. i add water in there to rinse out the shampoo that is left on the bottom
i save ketchup packets
i cut my own hair
i use the same dull razor for months at a time (it still cuts.. just takes a little longer)
my brother and i share sneakers because we are the same shoe size
i cut bananas in half and eat the other half later
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LOL Who has the time to lather, rinse and repeat? In fact I have had to go to a shampoo/conditioner combo, because I didn’t have the time to do both. I like playing the how low can you go game as well.
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“Lori Says:
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:40 am
You may want to watch out for your car’s warranty conditions if you aren’t getting regular oil changes… you may void it by going against the recommended minimum.”
This is true – my mother in law had to pay for about $4,000 repairs in her leased car because she waited too long between oil changes.
Ouch!
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I don’t remember the exact recipe, but my mom always used to make our own hot chocolate mix, basically cocoa powder, dried milk and perhaps a little bit of sugar. It made a lot of mix and tasted just as good as the store mixed stuff, also cheaper per serving if I remember correctly
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Nobody mentioned the fact that you made cocoa “to console yourself”. Not that we aren’t all guilty of this, but if we stopped using food and beverages to fill emotional needs, think of the money AND body issues saved over a lifetime.
Listen to what your body and soul actually need… take it easy, take a nap, reduce your stress. Being loving towards yourself doesn’t cost a thing and is the only means of LASTING “consolation”. A true wise investment.
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Here’s some info on rain water collection:
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/rain_barrel.php
You can use excess rain water to water your grass and garden.
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David wrote: I like this blog a lot but this is bordering on “this guy is no fun to hang out with he’s so cheap”.
Heh. I don’t think anyone who knows me would accuse me of being cheap. I have a hard enough time with “frugal”!
But David brings up a good point. There is a fine line between frugal and cheap, which we’ve discussed before. In a way, what I’m suggesting people do in this article is to find where that line is for themselves. Adopting a frugal mentality allows you to cut back on things. But cutting back too far can lead to cheapness. Somewhere in between is a balance. That’s what I’m looking for.
But as for watering the lawn? That’s a decision you have to make for yourself. If you feel societal pressure to maintain a green lawn, then maintain a green lawn. I’m lucky — where I live, everyone lets their lawn go brown. (In our old house, the neighborhood was mixed — some did, some didn’t.)
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Good article. I noticed several years ago that the free contact lens cases that came with the solution suddenly increased in size. It is still hard to not automatically fill it full, but I haven’t noticed a difference using just over half full. (And I pay special attention to my eyes since I have a brain tumor near the the optic nerve.) Also on my VW the recommended oil change is every 5000 miles so I go by that.
I was raised in a frugal household. My mom taught us that it is best to spend more money on items where quality matters and less where it doesn’t. She also taught us how to turn one chicken into lots of meals – even in a family of five. I’ve started doing it more now since we have cut back on expenses so I can stay home with the kids. Also I buy an extra turkey around Thanksgiving when they are really cheap and freeze it for later in the year. There are a lot of meals for $5-6 in one turkey (roasted turkey, plain leftovers, sandwiches, turkey/veggies/in cream of chicken over some grain, soup, etc.)
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A lot of this post and discussion has concentrated on guidelines set forth by manufacturers such as how much and how often. I think it’s a good practice in general to set your own guidelines based on intuition while keeping the manufacturer’s guidelines in mind as an exaggerated suggestion. After all, it’s in their best interest for us to consume more faster.
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I agree with #45 and the incredible savings of the menstrual cup — if only more women knew about it! I haven’t bought feminine products in 6 years, and the Earth is happier for it. My coworker and I have been experimenting with shampooing less (we have a pact to tell one another if we get too grungy
). Our hair is so much happier — by day 4 I usually resort to an updo style, and she has developed a technique using baby powder and blow drying it until the powder isn’t visible anymore (she has very dark hair and this works perfectly). But we are down to about 1.5 washings a week and no one is the wiser!
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You know, I actually started using baking soda instead of toothpaste and I really like it. Even though it doesn’t have a minty flavor it makes my mouth feel cleaner and more refreshed afterward. I just keep a small ramekin of baking soda on the counter and dip my wet toothbrush into it to get a little pea sized amount and then brush.
I’m also trying this whole new wash your hair with baking soda instead of shampoo thing too. Have you heard of that? Every blogger thats written about it loves it, so I’m giving it a shot.
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When I make my kids hot cocoa we they each get half a packet (with hot milk) and have never complained.
When you go to a cafeteria and say have 4 people, get meat for 3 and order some extra vegetables. Going to a chinese restaurant again our kids split a regular meal, perfect amount of food. When we were getting meals for everyone food was going to waste.
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The best tip I have is to be raised by parents who lived through the Depression. I have yet to see a hot tip that wasn’t just how we were raised.
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There were two main things that I started cutting back on, and I started doing so not only to conserve, but also because I preferred them that way.
The first is hand soap. Our family has a stock of soap dispensers, and we buy refills to refill them. The amount of soap that comes out on a single pump is more than necessary for me, so I started diluting it with water. Even after diluting it, it works up a good lather (I could actually probably dilute it more).
Since I’m on the subject of soaps – I also occasionally use leftovers from bars of soap to put in soap dispensers. I use bars of soap in the shower, and when the bar becomes too small to use, I drop the remainders of the bar in a soap dispenser, put in some water, and save it for later. After contributing to it from time to time with leftover slivers of soap, I can use it as hand soap. Obviously, this kind of thing would be a chore to some people, and wouldn’t be worth their time. I don’t mind doing it (and it gives me some kind of psychological pleasure that I’m not wasting something, even if it’s just a sliver of soap). Suggestions like these work for some people, and not for others.
I also occasionally water down my lotion (depending on what type – I usually only do it to the thick lotions). Again, this is personal preference. I don’t like thick lotion, so it works for me (if I have some on hand, I may dilute a thick lotion with a thinner lotion).
Someone mentioned saving shower water to water plants. An even better alternative is to use leftover water in which you boiled greens or vegetables to water your plants. The water is rich in vitamins.
(I’m going to be awaiting someone to reply to this, linking to studies proving that my suggestions are actually more inefficient or more wasteful. I will try to accept it gracefully.
)
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I am surprised about all these comments about shampoo. I mean, what I do to save money on shampoo is buy the $.99 cent bottle of VO5 at the store and it lasts me like 6 weeks easy.
Thats only about $.02 cents per day. I think I can handle that.
Here is a question that I have for all the people talking about washing machines though –
I have a small child in the house, so I have my hot water heater set at 120 degrees to prevent burns. But now I’m finding that my clothes aren’t getting clean even with a big scoop of soap. (We have very hard water, so things like shampoo never get sudsy no matter how much you use and the armpits on our shirts still come out kinda stinky!)
Should I add something? Smaller load but set it for larger? Try to find another way to regulate the water temp?
What should I do?
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@Charles Baisden. Actually, an unwatered lawn that dies off is NOT necessarily an indication of a unhealthy lawn. It’s the natural lifecycle for most varieties of grass to go dormant and die off for the hottest, driest part of the year. By watering, you just prevent it from going into dormancy. If you don’t water over the summer, you’ll find that your grass grows back just as healthy as ever once things cool off and it starts raining again.
As to the impact on resale value, it really depends upon the norms of your neighborhood. I’ve never lived somewhere with an HOA or where people watered their lawns regularly, so I never notice people’s lawns as long as they’re cut. Like one of the other commenters, I would never live somewhere that did try to tell me how to keep my lawn. What I did notice about our current neighborhood is that people did take pride in their homes, not necessarily by keeping their lawns like golf courses, but with nice gardens and all manner of renovations and upgrades to the mostly 1920s-era homes. In any case, our neighborhood is, by and large, very nice and you really get the feeling that people are maintaining their properties in ways that give them the most enjoyment rather than just to keep up with the neighbors.
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This isn’t so much about cutting back but about reducing, for women use a reusable cloth pads or a menstural cup instead of pads and tampons.
For everything else I pretty much do already. My cat gets about 1 cup of dry food a day. I don’t even wash my hair every day, and I never use the recommended amount of liquid laundry soap.
I think the recipe on my box of cocoa calls for only 1 tbs anyway, but sometimes I add more if making a large mug.
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This isn’t purely by choice, but I do my laundry at the laundromat. About $2 a load, and if I go early in the morning I can get as many machines as I want, and do all my laundry in an hour. You can do that a lot for the price of a solidly-built front-loading washing machine, which is what I’m using.
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RE: Rachel, I wash my clothes in cold water and they come out clean. Do the clothes have soap residue on them? Maybe you are using too much soap. Honestly I think armpits are going to stink a lot once you have worn a shirt many times.
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@Rachel (#78)- From what I’ve heard, adding more soap may actually make the smell worse b/c the soap causes a film over the fabric and doesn’t allow the fabric to clean as well.
Also, adding white vinegar to the wash will help with the smells in laundry. My husband used to work for a pizza chain and always had the worse smells in his clothes and using vinegar helped a lot!
And, personally, I don’t use hot water for anything except towels and sheets and just use the minimum amt of laundry detergent and add borax and vinegar to the wash. My clothes have been getting much cleaner!
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Hmmm — maybe I’ll try cold with the vinegar.
The reason we have been using hot is because a lot of baby clothes have the random kid stuff – boogers, poo, barf, – gross I know, but true.
BUT…she is a little older now and that doesn’t happen nearly as much. Maybe it’s time to give it a try.
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The oil change one is something I really REALLY try to educate people on. It may have been true for your old Vega but today’s oils and engines are so much better. My Elantra says 3750 miles and I routinely inform my mechanic that that’s all he’s getting out of me is what the manual says.
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Rachel, I use cloth diapers, wash them in hot water with regular detergent and a little bleach, then I do an extra rinse with warm water and some vinegar. Make sure you don’t use too much soap. The extra rinse and/or the vinegar get any remaining smell out. When he was spitting up a lot that was hard to get that smell out, especially out of the burp cloths – I think I did something similar, maybe I also tried adding baking soda. Now his clothes are just mixed in with ours with just cold water and detergent and I just look for stains to pretreat.
Also I have found that drying the diapers outside is nice – the sun bleachs any remaining stains out. Then I put them in the dryer for a few minutes to soften them up.
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I’ve cut down on how much I eat by switching to salad plates at dinner time. Not only do we save money by eating less, we’re getting healthier by weighing less!
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I’m all for frugality. I live below my means. But you lost me at the menstural cup. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
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Whoever made the comment that the weathly don’t save the pennies is wrong. I grew up poor to middle class, but now am wealthy from hard work, a good education, good choices, and furgal living. I do watch the pennies. I love see how others pinch the pennies so that I can be even more careful with my money. Some things we do…
Make liquid soap from 1 grated Dove bar mixed with 3 cups hot water. (from WiseBread website)
Water down dishwashing soap (for the pots and pan. I use my energy efficient dishwasher too)
Use fans instead of AC or dress in layers in the winter.
And I can’t forget the coupons. ETC.
IT ALL ADDS UP.
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Like the oil changes and lawn watering, many frugal tips depend upon people’s particular situations. I’d love to scale back on detergent and shampoo, but I have very hard water and small amounts just don’t cut it. Using a dishwasher is cost effective for many people, but depending upon how old your dishwasher is and how sterile you want your plates, that isn’t a given. I’m all for cutting back and am considered slightly cheap by many of my spendthrift relations; However, one of the best money savers for my family has been to keep a few healthier convenience food items on hand. It keeps us from going out to a restaurant when we get home late and are tired and hungry. People just need to get in the habit of taking a good look at things and thinking “what’s the minimum that works for me.”
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dish soap:
I live alone and have no dishwasher. I wash dishes regularly, but don’t make a ton of them every day. I just use a little soap in the biggest dirty pot or bowl, and in 2 years I’ve gone through less than 2 small bottles of dish soap.
oil changes:
I don’t drive much at all – it took me over a year to go 5k miles. However after reading around at Car Talk, it looks like I should change my oil at 5k miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. Does anyone recommend waiting longer than that?
lotions: I have a small bottle of not-cheap scented lotion on my desk, and a larger bottle of more-cheap unscented lotion, and use a bit of each together.
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@ Rachel (post 78) It was here, I think, or the Simple Dollar where I learned that most of the power that washing machines use is for heating the water, so I don’t know whether reducing the temperature at your water heater would actually affect laundry that much.
I heartily agree with the suggestions for vinegar and less-frequent hair washing (recommended by every stylist I’ve ever visited).
I also found a lot of savings AND satisfaction in reducing the products that create a lot of waste — plastic baggies (which my grandmother uses, but then washes and reuses — total pain in the neck), paper towels and paper plates. I use plastic containers (repurposed containers from food I’ve bought, plus a hodgepodge of Tupperware, etc.) and cotton rags, and I feel great about it without noticeably increasing the work I do (laundry or dishwashing, both of which I despise).
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beth that sounds about right as far as oil changes go.. since you don’t drive much i would try to stretch it out and only do it once a year
i change mine every 6,000 miles
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I always have to experiment with what works to find the balance between “as little as possible” and “the recommended amount” to find “does the job”. The example that pops into my mind is voice lessons. Teachers want you weekly, but I often only have enough practice time to incorporate things I learn biweekly, if not monthly. Anything else is wishful thinking.
This idea also seems to parallel a lot of what I learned from flylady: some things I “should” do everyday, but won’t. Often weekly or even monthly is “enough”. Depends on what task we’re talking about.
@Christine: yeah, fool me once . . . , fool me twice . . .
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In response to #38: My comment is a general concept — I think that settling for a non-healthy, non-green lawn is actually very short sighted, and does not factor in the economic cost of forgoing the maintenance & effort required to produce a healthy lawn.
In Oregon it is natural for grass to go dormant in the summer. A healthy lawn will happily dry up and turn brown or survive with very little water in the summer, it’s part of it’s natural cycle. If I were selling my house I would probably water the lawn because it is a selling point.
Another place people spend to much money taking care of the lawn is with weed & feed. Study after study shows that homeowners grossly over use these products; spending large amounts of money and contaminating water sources.
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@ 88 Beth — menstrual cups may sound like too much for frugality inthe beginning, but:
- not generating waste
- wearing it worry-free 12 hours at a time
- going on worry-free dates (seriously)
- spending $10/year instead of buying 10 different sizes of product every 3 months (I think it’s crazy that in the last 40 years, companies have decided something we’re born with needs different levels of product!)
are all benefits in more ways than just frugality — it’s actually intensely liberating, both in terms of sexual freedom and in terms of getting away from marketing.
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I haven’t really cut back that much, since my habits are fairly frugal anyways.
A few things I’m continuing to do: get haircuts about 2x a year, drink tap water, compost, grow herbs instead of buying from the store, and use egg whites and legumes as a major source of protein instead of cooking with more meat.
I eat dinner at work fairly often (paid for by the firm), and so I’ll save half for the following day’s lunch.
Waiting to have kids is a pretty big savings tactic, too– it lets us rent an apartment, save on health insurance, and build up a nest egg.
In terms of time savings, (cf JD’s previous post on hourly wages), I also try to do things at off-hours. I grocery shop on weeknights after 8:30. I drive to work an hour early so I can avoid burning gas and wasting time in rush hour; I go to the gym during that extra hour, and then shower at the gym as well, which saves on our water bill at home.
Speaking of bills, auto bill pay saves on stamps and checks (I’m amazed paper’s still used).
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I wasn’t taking a shot at you J.D., I probably should have worded it bit better. I agree with finding the line between cheap/frugal, maybe I’ve found my line.
Perhaps there is a regional difference, in California a non watered lawn is a sore thumb of the neighborhood almost synonymous with foreclosures at this point. However, bring in some plants native to the area and some imagination you have a great looking yard with not a lot of maintenance or watering.
Maybe I’m just saying take the steps to have a yard that doesn’t use a lot of water rather than just stop maintenance. Again there’s probably a regional difference.
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Can we PLEASE have some REAL savings tips PLEASE???????????????
*** REAL Savings Tips ***
*** REAL Savings Tips ***
*** REAL Savings Tips ***
OK, well maybe these aren’t savings tips, but are more like living or spending tips! You shouldn’t spend money on things you don’t NEED.
Housing and Automobiles are generally the #1 and #2 highest costs for family budgets. Why not take a hard look at those FIRST and FORGET the 29 cents savings for cocoa!!
1- Why buy a overprice house that consumes 40-50% of your monthly income? That’s wayyyy too much as experts suggest mortgage taxes insurance should be less than 30% NET or TAKE HOME pay. Don’t use gross income because it’s not a real number thanks to taxes. If you have a home that consumes 40-50% net, then you know you are in trouble and I’m sorry to hear you made a bad mistake…it’s time to sell.
2- Why buy or lease a Lexus, Infiniti or other ridiculously priced automobile? A Toyota Tercel or Minivan is much more reasonable. Paying any price over $25,000 for any vehicle is just plain STUPID! Cars depreciate and so you WILL loose money, they are NOT an investment but instead is a necessary expense. Vehicles used for primary income (trucks for plumbers, tow trucks, landscaping) would of course be excluded.
3- Stay AWAY from things you don’t NEED!! Why would anyone buy a $3000 Plasma TV? By 27 inch “boob-tube” does just fine thanks.
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@Frugal Bachelor – In terms of water usage, a dishwasher is actually more efficient than handwashing in the sink. However, I have read that the high amount of electricity used cancels this out. According to what other people are saying in the comments, though, I’m wrong.
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