My second tip for today would be to wash your clothes in cold water. This will save you energy. I also turn my dark colored clothes inside out, especially, my dark blue and black clothes. If you have some items that are stained or dirty with oil or grease then try pre-soaking those items in a warm water and then wash on cold. My husband can get dirty from his job but this works for our family.
I decided to post a series of frugal living tips daily. TMR is an abbreviation for Thrifty Momma Ramblings. I will try to post a new tip everyday except for weekends, since I get busy with my husband home. There are literally thousands of ways to cut costs in all areas of our lives. I don’t do every tip but I do apply many of them to our budget.
My first tip for today is to hang your clothes on a clothesline. The weather has been very unpredictable so I have a chain that runs the length of my washroom. I can hang a good bit of clothing on the line. I do have a dryer that runs on natural gas but I like hanging sheets outside on a nice sunny day. An inside line would be better for those that have snow or allergies. I also wash a load every other to every 2 days instead of waiting for the weekend.
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This weekend I was scouring a free paper we receive that is basically a whole paper full of classifieds ads. There are great deals listed at times so I like to browse since you never know what will be listed. I came across a deal for a Little Tikes bed. It was the twin size red race car bed. We bought my son a futon bed a few months ago but it’s just not working well. The character sheets he wants for his bed are so much more expensive for full size if you can even find them. We had a twin size a couple of years ago but my husband thought it was better to go with the full size bed we got for free from his parents. I have been kicking myself ever since for getting rid of the twin bed.
When I came across the ad I was intrigued. These beds sell well and usually for more than the asking price. I called and she was desperate to get rid of it as she needed the space in her garage. I sent my husband over with the truck and it was in pristine condition. She even gave us an almost brand new twin mattress with bunk bed box spring and a brand new set of yellow sheets. I paid $200 for the bed. It’s the red one with the bookcase headboard and a toy box at the foot of the bed. This particular style retails for $400 new. The best part is the Little Tikes bed looks almost new. There are a couple of light scuffs on the corners. An added bonus is that when it’s time to sell the bed, then we can recoup almost all of our money. We got such a great deal and still can’t believe she gave us a new mattress. We put the futon bed in our spare room to keep for company. I also got a killer deal on that one from the furniture store.
We only have full size bedding so we had to buy twin size bedding for our son. So we went to Wal-Mart yesterday and found a Speed Racer comforter for $18. I wanted the sheets but thought it was odd they weren’t marked down. Hubby scanned them and it rang up at $7! I was very excited to get the whole set for $25 and he will be able to use these for several years. I also splurged on another set of character sheets for him so we spent about $50 with tax for 2 sets of sheets and the comforter. We now have 3 sets and I still plan on using his other full size comforters for now.