Friday, January 7, 2011

Ways I have been saving money...

So here are some ways I have been saving money the last month, I am sure there are a TON more ways, but I am trying to baby step my way into this whole frugality thing. But I welcome any tips!

First off recycling.
We go thru phases with recycling. However, the last month I have been very diligent about putting any and everything that is able to be recycled, into the recycle bin.
The outcome is that we have gone from throwing 7-8 bags of trash away every week, to 4-5 bags!


Menu planning.
I have been consistently doing this since the beginning of December and it has been SO helpful! I love that my girls can go look at the menu for the week and see what we are having for lunch and dinner everyday and help by getting stuff ready.


Price matching.
I scour the circulars every Wednesday morning looking for great deals and then price match them at Walmart.



Clipping Coupons.
As of yet, I havent saved a ton of money doing this, but again, I am a newbie with a lot to learn. I do like that Laura over a QponSavingMommas keeps track of her coupon savings so she can see her progress. She is a coupon QUEEN!



Washcloths.
We have started to use washcloths instead of paper towels in almost all instances. This has taken us from going thru an average size roll a day, to an average size roll every 3-4 days. I got some 'mega' Bounty rolls at the store 2 weeks ago and one of those rolls is lasting us for 1 week!


It has also been helpful to go to my favorite coupon/frugal blogs and sites and see the deal scenarios they post and the coupon match ups.
We have also tried to do more fresh produce for snack time and I have tried to buy whats on sale to save money in that area.
Aldi has been a fun place to shop for a deal too, on things that I cant get cheaper at a 'regular' store. For example, we eat a lot of pretzels here for a snack and had been buying the Rold Gold brand for $2.50 a bag. Aldi has that same size bag of pretzels for $1.30!
They also have canned biscuit dough (like Pillsbury) for $.30 a can and it has no dairy, so even my dairy allergic child can eat it!
I will be posting my favorite coupon blogs in the next day or so, so be watching!



3 comments:

  1. We "converted" to cloth napkins over a year ago. I figured if I was doing laundry I could just throw the napkins into the wash. It has saved us alot.

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  2. Christa, While I am washing washcloths alot, I have found we are saving a great deal in paper towels, so I am pleased =)

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  3. I switched to microfiber cloths for cleaning and try to use washcloths/towels as much as possible. I also have a couple of cheap white bath towels I use in the kitchen. I spread them on the counter if I'm going to do something that I know will be messy and can just throw them in the wash (with a little bleach as needed). Chocolate cake is a good example. Before, the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, etc. would end up all over the counter, then the batter would splash out while I was using the hand mixer. Now, all of that lands on the towel, and as a bonus the bowl doesn't slide all over the counter while I'm trying to mix, so it's less work.

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