Tag: Frugal Living Tips

Today’s thrifty living tip is decrease your amount of laundry. How do you ask? There are two simple tricks I use in my household. First is to use a towel more than once. We don’t use washcloths, but the towel that only dries hands can be used for a week. The same thing for the bath towel. I make sure to hang it so it will dry between uses. We also wear our pajamas for 2-3 nights before calling them dirty. I have 2 pairs that I rotate nightly so I only have to wash 2 each week. I don’t wear my pajamas all day and only for bed. I also don’t wash clothes that I only wore for an hour or two like dress clothes for church. Unless I got sweaty, there is no need to wash them since they aren’t dirty. This has helped cut down on the amount of laundry we do each week.

Your local public library is your best way of saving a lot of money. A library card is free (just don’t lose it). Since I am living in a rural town, then it really saves me a lot of money in gas since I can do more than just check out books. They have lots of services and many times have clubs that meet. My library also offers classes on different things and not to mention the great kid related activities. Summer reading programs are very popular and many offer rewards for your kids to read. Check with your local branch to see what they offer. With your library card you can check out savings!

FAX/PRINT: I can pay a small fee to have items faxed, sent to me, or print/copy. It’s much cheaper than many places including grocery stores and the post office.

FREE Computers: If I need it, then I can get on the computers for free. Mine has a time of 1 hour per patron as they only have 3 computers. Many times the bigger libraries offer more so no time limit.

FREE DVD RENTALS: I can rent DVD movies and many are new releases! I find a great selection of movies, how to videos, seasons of tv shows, and kid’s movies/cartoons! My library gives me 1 week and the other one 2-3 weeks rental.

FREE Magazines/Newspapers: I can read many of the current magazines for free and my newspaper. They also give me the coupon inserts since they don’t want them. I have also been given older back copies for free as they would just trash them. Handyman magazine is great as diy tips last for years.

Story Time/Kid’s Activities: On weekends and in the summer, they have story time and crafts for the kids. My son loves participating in the summer reading program. Each child receives a free small cheese pizza to a pizza shop for participating. They also get entered into a drawing. He won the grand prize this year which was a $15 gift card to Wal-Mart! If you don’t go to your library then it’s time you check it out.

Naturally you can check out books. Of course libraries can also offer free classes on computers and other things. You just never know what you will discover at the library!

Today’s thrify living tip is to thin out those ultra concentrated dish liquids. I have noticed this new trend with the ulta concentrated liquids like dish and laundry detergents to even hand soaps. Of course the bottles are getting smaller so I’m not sure how much more you getting for the price increase. I also noticed that the coupon amounts have shrunk (ok pun intended). I used to be able to find $1 and 50 cent coupons, but now I noticed the manufacturers are issuing 50 to 25 cent coupons. I decided to battle this by adding water to thin it out. I found more was being wasted. I put 1/3 liquid into an empty bottle and just add water then shake to mix it up. I can now make a bottle last for several weeks which makes my stockpile last much longer. I recently bought 18 bottles from a CVS sale for $2.xx so this will last well over a year. I find that it bubbles better and the dishes are just as clean.

So you are probably wondering what is a free Christmas spending challenge. It’s a challenge that I’m doing this year to pay for Christmas with our pocket change and the things I get for free. This includes gift certificates I redeem from My Points and other reward programs. I am also using the change we’ve saved in a jar. I normally use this money to pay for presents for our family like DVD movies and games. This year we are on a tight budget like most people so I decided to spend less. I can still give nice and thoughtful gifts without spending a fortune.

I give gifts to around 30 people which includes my family, hubby’s, teachers, mail lady, and such. My hubby and I aren’t exchanging any presents this year unless I can score some great deals on DVD movies and/or games, but I’m not holding my breath. I also buy items for gift baskets that I get for free or almost free. I get lots of compliments on my gift baskets from my friends and family. I have Tupperware left from in my inventory that I will give as gifts. I do plan on making homemade treats this year like chocolate covered mint patties, peanut butter balls and fudge.

I already have several gift certificates saved up. I redeemed 2 $10 Subway gift cards and a $10 Chili from My Coke Rewards. I just ordered another $10 Chili gc so I plan on giving those 2 to a couple. I’m hoping to get the Snow White blu-ray DVD combo pack that will be on sale at Wal-Mart on Tuesday for $9.96 plus tax after I use the $10 off coupon I printed. That will make another wonderful gift. I also got stainless steel water bottles on clearance. I just requested a $50 check from my bank since I use a free checking rewards program. I am getting a $25 CVS gc from My Points which I will use to help pay for the great deals I’m getting. I also did the CVS Monsters vs Aliens deal this past week. I paid $6 for that movie which is a great stocking stuffer for my son. My son’s Christmas and Birthday is already paid for with all those Bionicle Legos we scored last October so click here to read about that great deal. I’m glad we saved them so that is a huge help to our Christmas budget. I found a couple more gifts I had bought but didn’t give them last year. I have a bad habit of forgetting what I buy people earlier in the year, and then buy something else when it gets closer to Christmas. I will report back and update my Christmas spending challenge especially when it gets closer to Christmas.

Today’s thrifty living tip is turn down your water heater to 120-125 degrees. I have mine set to 125 degrees which I find is comfortable for us year round. Most people have theirs set at 130-140 which can burn small children. You can save an average of 4% for every ten degrees you lower the temperature. Another way to save energy costs is to wrap the tank with a thermal blanket which can be bought at most hardware stores. If you have an electric tank, then setting a timer will also further your savings. Timers won’t work well with gas water heaters.