What frugal things do you do?

[tigress]

I just started making my own laundry detergent. I am considering making my own baby wipes.

What frugal things do you do? It can be household related or food related or whatever. I'm trying to find ways to be a better and cheaper homemaker for my family.

Thanks!

[Deleted]

I love cleaning with vinegar

[makingithappen]

In the past, I would cook a lot of dinners with a whole chicken breast per person. S and H rarely ate all of theirs so I've started cutting them up and using 1 or 2 per meal instead of a whole pack.

[magdala9]

Cleaning with vinegar
Homemade bread, pizza, soups, tomato sauce and roasted red peppers.
Grow my own herbs. Hopefully I can plan a real garden next year.
Brownbag lunch
Take coffee in a thermos

[CloudBee]

We also make our own laundry soap now. My husband has really sensitive skin, but wow, we have saved SO much money.

We also use washable cloths in the kitchen more often than paper towels. They scrub better, and we toss them in the wash with all other laundry.

Once the baby arrives, we will be using cloth diapers. That's more because I hate the thought of tossing away diapers daily, and CDs are so much softer than disposables.

Leftovers - I often freeze food after 1-2 days before it has a chance to go bad, when I realize we may get sick of it before it's gone.

Lately we've been going out for lunch vs. dinner on weekends, or getting lunch takeout vs. dinner takeout. The prices are often half that of dinner (or more!), and they throw in sides. Portions are often equivalent.

Buying in bulk - I have medium sized shelves in the garage where I keep 6 packs of deodorant from Amazon, toilet paper from Costco, 3 packs of ketchup, etc. It keeps me out of the grocery store some weeks (so I spend less on impulse purchases), bulk is often cheaper, and we love the convenience of having what we need that are staples in our home.

I also buy meat in bulk either from farms, or from Costco. I keep it in our chest freezer. If it's not portioned, I portion it before freezing.

Chest freezer - I can stock up on things we use when they are on sale. Again, it keeps me from having to shop as often, and I can get a discount on organic meats, etc., by buying in bulk.

[heygrey]

The only paper product we use is toilet paper. I make most foods from scratch instead of using canned/jarred versions.

[chessie]

Shoe/trim my own horses
bathe my own dogs/groom them
meal plan
limit outings out to reduce gas usage.
Slaughter our own animals
Make most things from scratch
Stopped all gifts within the family

[mrshandy]

We've used the same cloth diapers since DS was 12 weeks. He's 26 months now.

Go out to eat maybe once or twice a month.

Eat pretty much everything we buy from the grocery store.

Take public transportation to work since my employer pays for me.

Homebrew (I'm not sure if we save money doing this, but I think we do)

[honeybee]

I make almost everything from scratch. Bake my own breads, pastas, jams, jellies etc
Dish towels and cloth napkins
Invested in nail clippers for the dog/cat
Couponing cuts down a lot now that I've gotten good at it

[CloudBee]

Also with produce - I often buy what's on sale vs. going into the store with a list of the fruit I want to eat for the week.

Some weeks I walk out with a large $3 carton of organic strawberries and 2 lbs of conventional blueberries for $4.

Other weeks I walk out with 1lb of conventional grapes for 99 cents, and a 3 lb bag of organic apples for $3.

I do the same when we eat bagged Dole salads. We eat the variety that's on sale.

I find we eat a larger variety of produce with this approach as well.

[mrssavy42112]

I’ve made cleaning supplies also. I drink the nasty coffee at work & pack a lunch rather than going out. When we go out for dates, we almost always get a LivingSocial deal to a new place. I cook in bulk & freeze leftovers to eat later in the week. I am big on couponing & shopping sales. Nothing too extraordinary over here.

[Deleted]

Meal planning is the biggest thing for me - I make sure I plan to use up all leftovers and all produce I buy.
I use only cloth napkins. Use very few paper towels, really only for bacon grease or pet stuff.
I use vinegar instead of laundry softener.
Homemade laundry soap.
Committing to keep "stuff" at a minimum helps save a lot of money.

[Deleted]

We use cloth napkins and paper towels.
Clean with vinegar mostly
cut dryer sheets in half
churn credit cards for miles/ cash back for all our travel

[Deleted]

We have only one car; luckily it's super-easy to take DH and C to work/daycare. It is frustrating at times, but works 95% of the time.

We do not have cable/satellite outside of a basic 12-channel package. We get other shows/entertainment from Amazon Prime (also MM for us with shipping!) and Netflix streaming.

I meal plan for 2wks at a time. We go grocery shopping on payday, use cash; and if anything's left I will pick up fresh produce or odds/ends during the week in-between. I also have the 5% Target debit card. This means they get to track everything I purchase, but I get 5% off on things I need all the time. I'm experiementing with homemade breads and eating 'real' foods as well; we're cutting back on meats to try and fight the rising food prices these days (sort of a losing battle). I also try to pay cash for gas when I can, since that's often 5-6 cents cheaper per gallon in our area.

[mbcdefg]

pack lunch often

Make my own chicken broth, cook from scratch mostly

We don't eat out often - when we do, it's casual, a lunch portion, and/or BYOB

dishrags and cloth napkins vs. paper products

I don't get my nails done or my hair colored (this is just personal preference vs. frugality, though), and I don't get my hair cut very often. My sister just finished beauty school so if I need it styled for an event then she does it for free.

[Deleted]

Also, this may sound counter-productive but I have a Keurig at work. I work on a university campus, and once you're parked you dare not leave your spot because you'll never find another one. Food and drink is quite pricey and staff do not get any discount. I got the machine for free from points on my bank debit card. Even with getting K-cups, creamers, and distilled water, the Keurig is way cheaper than paying $2.40 a cup for the same amount of coffee, let alone specialty flavors/drinks.

[mellymel]

take my own coffee to work everyday in a thermos
pack a water bottle and other beverages to drink throughout the work day
pack my own lunch every day
meal plan, and plan to make enough for leftovers for lunches for the week
buy in bulk at Costco and portion food out and freeze what we want to use later
use cloth rags instead of paper towels or disposable sponges for cleaning, wipe-ups, etc.
hang our clothes dry instead of using the dryer when possible
do my own manis/pedis
eat out RARELY (yes, frugal, but also because we have a baby and it's getting harder to get out with him on a regular basis as he is in the throwing food stage and the OMG-I-AM-DONE-EATING-GET-ME-OUT-OF-THIS-HIGHCHAIR phase)
DIY almost everything possible around the house (obviously not huge jobs like building our own deck - but we do all painting and other repairs/improvements ourselves)

[Deleted]

never get manis/pedis
pluck my own eyebrows
wear my one month contacts for two or three
reuse ziplock bags
make my own baby food
pack my lunch everyday

[Deleted]

I buy a lot of clothing/bags/shoes (only unworn) second hand in thrift and consignment stores. I'm always kind of amazed at the brand new items people toss. I've also bought a lot of home decor and household items there. I'm still all warm and fuzzy over the London Fog short trench w/ zipout liner I picked up for $5 that sells at Nordie's for $200. Holla.

[Deleted]

family cloth

[slug*bug]

Meal planning: we are able to take advantage of sales and less food goes to waste/or goes bad in the fridge when we have a plan for the week.

Cloth diapering: we didn't initially start CDing b/c of the cost savings, but it has definitely saved us money, esp. now that we're CDing #2.

I found a great glass cleaner recipe online (vinegar, water, dish soap): it's better than any commercial cleaner I've used and it's so inexpensive b/c we've always got the ingredients on hand.

[anna7602]

I don't have a car. Does that count? DH has a bicycle to get to and from work. Neither of us has owned a car since 2001.

Working at home has saved me on transportation costs and food since I eat lunch at home most of the time.

[whitepicketfence]

Meal planning
Clipping coupons
Shopping sales
Buying second hand clothes (consignment, garage sales, eBay)
Rarely eating out
Buying in bulk
Packing DH's lunch
Cash only system (we stick to our budget much better this way)
Buying our meat & produce from local farmers
Cooking/baking from scratch
Drink mainly water
Made our own baby food
Cutting DH's hair at home

[mrssavy42112]

Oct 1, 2012 14:50:09 GMT -5 @lilly said:

never get manis/pedis
pluck my own eyebrows
wear my one month contacts for two or three
reuse ziplock bags
make my own baby food
pack my lunch everyday

I used to wear 2 week contacts for 1 month or more, thinking I was saving money too. Well, until I did that for a year & ended up having irritation & sensitivity in my eyes. The Dr. said he could tell I wear them for too long, even without me mentioning it. So, it can be kind of counterproductive.

I don't get mani/pedis either & do my own eyebrows. Kind of forgot people pay for these things.

[otowngirl]

Before I make an impulsive online purchase, I google to see if any coupon codes are applicable?

[Susie]

I just discovered that my local library has Downton Abbey, the Sopranos, and Boardwalk Empire, all of which I want to watch, if I'm a little patient and willing to wait for inter library loans for some seasons.

[rubytue]

Reading this I realize I am far less frugal than I use to be. Age, time, stress, and income has apparently converted me.

We reuse ziplocks, cook from scratch a lot, and do almost all our own home repairs. And I love love love thrift store shopping. I'm happier with my $30 used desk I painted just how I wanted it than the $300 particle board desk I was eyeing.

[jinnifah]

I use facecloths for pee diapers
I cloth diaper
We buy all our clothes second hand

[mmlurker]

There is a great thread on this topic over on the Bogleheads forum, which I learned about on MM. It's nice to read through every once in a while for inspiration/reminders:

www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36680

[flygirl22]

I try to make homemade buns and pizza crust. They are just better... DH eats those Ciabata bread rolls from costco for every single lunch, I really need to learn how to make those..

Other than that, I take the bus to work, but that isn't home related.