Category: Frugal Living Tips

Today’s thrifty tip is think about leveling your utility bills. It makes budgeting easier for me since I have an average of what my bill will be from month to month. I have to run our A/C often during the summer which spikes our electric bill. It was harder for us to come up with $200-250 for one month during the summer. Instead we pay an average of $100 per month. We use less electricity in the winter months since we our heater runs on natural gas. During the summer months my bill can go up to $110-120, and during the winter as cheap as $80. I budget $100 per month so in the months when it’s cheaper, I have extra for the more expensive summer months. I also have my natural gas bill leveled. I average $50 a month on that bill. I just level my water bill myself since they don’t offer that service. I average $40 per month on the water and it includes trash service. It just makes my life easier, and bill paying more predictable.

Today’s thrifty living tip is declutter. Clutter makes your life unorganized, looks messy, and makes your life expensive. What I mean is if you can’t find that certain widget you know you own, then you waste time finding it. You might also buy another widget since you can’t find it. This happened to me last year at Thanksgiving. I couldn’t find a pastry cutter so I bought another one at the store for $5. I later found one that I couldn’t find so I now own two. I actually plan to use the one I already have, and have stored the other one in a place that I can now find it if I need it one day.

This happens very often to people. It’s money wasted as well as time. I try to declutter at least once a year. You can either sell or your stuff online like ebay, Craigslist, an ad in your local paper, or at a yard sale. I also like donating some of the clutter to my local church and women’s shelter. I usually don’t have enough stuff to justify a yard sale so I prefer to just give most of it away. This way I can help others in need.

Today’s thrifty living tip is use a pumice stone to clean hard water stains. This works really well with porcelain sinks, toilets, and even tubs. You can buy them at Lowes or any hardware store. We have an older toilet plus hard water. So deposits will build up over time, and it’s the original toilet to our 50 year old house. You do have to apply some elbow grease and it took out all the old stains. The inside looks brand new again. They are relatively cheap and I think I paid under $4 with tax. It’s a lot cheaper than most chemicals and it’s not toxic. I would recommend putting on a pair of latex gloves first.

Today’s thrifty living tip is use powered milk for cooking. It’s cheaper than fresh milk, and can be stored much longer. You can even use it in your own dry mixes like pancakes or biscuits. You can even further your savings by stretching fresh 2% with half powered milk. You won’t notice the difference in taste.

This may not be very frugal unless you buy the tools on sale like I do. Some people are lucky enough to find people selling their tools at yard sales or in the paper. Buying used out the paper isn’t always cheaper than buying new ones on sale. We purchased a nice set of air tools for $200 that came with a hard case to keep everything inside neatly. We received a brad nailer, framing nail gun, angle nailer, and a staple gun. We used the staple gun to put up our screens on the porch. We were quoted $350 for the same job that we did ourselves. That was just for labor and didn’t include materials. We saved $150, and now have a great set of tools that will last us for many years. We have several projects planned for this year using our new tools.