Friday, December 28, 2007

Ways to save

Today I just thought I would share some of the ways I like to save around the house. Many people may already know these but I thought I would share for any that are interested. I like these and they stretch my $

1.) I buy the foamable soap at like Aldi for very cheap around $1. I have found a great way to refill them and get that great foam. I use some Avon bath soap I have had forever. In the bath it makes me itch, no such problem as hand soap though. It has a great berry smell. I fill my empty foam soap container about one inch or so of the bubble bath then fill the rest with warm water and dissolve it as I am filling. Experiment with the ratio of soap to water for what works for you.

2.) I shop in bulk when it is cheap. I hate wimpy trash bags so I do not buy them. Yet I hate the price for the name brand. I have found that Costco's bags are great! They are just as heavy duty as the name brand and at a great cost savings. $12 or so for a box of 250. This works for us. As I improve on combining coupons and sales I may find better deals on name brand but for now I am happy with this.

3.) I refill my water bottles. We love bottled water around here. We also have one of those under the sink filters I am so happy with it. The water taste very good and I am a water snob. My son and I drink considerably more water though, when we keep it very cold. We have an old water cooler that chills the water and holds the 5 gallon jugs. I refill these 5 gallon jugs from my filtered water. I do this a few times and then we exchange them for cleanliness sake.

4.) I make some of my own cleaners. Soon I would like to try more natural ones but for the present this is what I do. I realised that the bottles of spray that is safe around everything is just the same old stuff we mixed up at all the day cares I worked at. About 2 tablespoons of bleach and fill the bottle with water. I bought one spray bottle of it and now I just refill my own and it works great. I also make my own Cleaner with bleach. I just used my old name brand bottle. I had found an all natural laundry detergent at Costco's (GREAT price) Econ or something. I just used about an 8th to quarter cup of that half that amount of bleach and fill with water. It is working wonderful. This one does bleach things so be careful and it is not safe around kids. I like to use the old name brand bottles this way I know how to store them and I don't have to mess with labeling them myself.

5.) The detergent I mentioned above I got on sale at Costco's for like $12 for about 120 loads for me this goes even further since we have a front loader. I have always used Tide I was afraid to try anything else, but when I started to have to buy the Free and Clear for my skin I just could not do that anymore. This detergent works and it also saves because you do not need an extra fabric softener with it.

These are some of the ideas we save around here. How about at your house?

4 comments:

Cindy Loven said...

I posted my biscuit recipe (of sorts LOL) over on my blog for you, feel free to copy and print it out..~C~

Unknown said...

Thanks

Jennifer said...

Baking soda!!
I love it to death and its cheap! I mix it with a little bit of Dawn Dish detergent and it works like magic to clean and I always buy the big box.I use it in my refrigerator as well and I use it in the kitty's litter.Couldn't do without it:)

Unknown said...

Wow I will start having to use it more than for baking. I do use it and vinigar to clear slow drains but I will have to try it for cleaning.