Frugal Skills---Taking care of what you've got

[Shell]

My Mom grew up during the great depression on a farm. Her Mom had two dresses in her closet. The children didn't have one book. Mom wore a potato sack as a dress.

One thing my Mom really taught me was to take care of your things. Sometimes, I watch someone in my family who doesn't have much. She loses everything and couldn't wear any clothes from last year as she has no idea where they are. She either loans them out and doesn't get them back or can't bother to treat stains so can't wear her older clothes. Sew a button back on? Are you nuts?

Taking care of what you already have and making it LAST is a great way to be frugal. The little things you do everyday such as mending your clothes, taking care of stains right away, maintaining your car, being organized and careful means you don't have to run out and buy new things all the time. You make things last!

What have you done to make your things last?

[AmyBoz]

We tape children's book pages, treat stains immediately, take good care of things, keep things clean, and are creative w/replacing parts.

[sunshine]

We have "play" clothes, "work" clothes, and "good" clothes.

We keep our equipment in good working order, change the oil when it should be changed, do the routine maintainance, etc.

We do the small repairs for things as they occur, rather than wait for them to become big repairs.

[simplemom]

We always try to repair or mend anything here. Pierre as much as me. We save lots of money doing this, I know.

[ThriftyWife]

I have to agree here. Keeping things clean and in good working order means less spending to replace. I find that a lot of my older "stuff" still looks nice because I've made the effort to maintain it. This goes for cars, furniture, clothing, etc. When my things look nice I don't feel the need to buy new ones...

[norma hamilton]

one of the most money saving things I do is keep written records: receipts, atm printouts, charge receipts and check them against statements; often find mistakes (mine or theirs) that result in me getting the refund deserved or the bounced check danger averted. Keeping an organized file drawer is veryu valuable. I also keep a record book for bill paying so I know what's coming (like 2 insurance bills in one month) and can manage my variable expenditures to accomodate the big bills. The stress this system spares me has saved my sanity and health plus saving on doctor bills.

[Shell]

In my search of squeezing all I can from my money I've been trying to make things last longer. I'm using less soap, toothpaste etc. I thought we could all brain-pool our knowlege and teach each other how to make everyday things last longer. I'll start:

Making my nylons last longer:

I hand wash them. I find the washer (even in those little bags) are just to rough on them. Of course, I use clear nail polish for those runs and when they look too ragged I wear them with my pants. I have also heard you can freeze them and they last longer. I have never tried that. I have also read you can cut off one bad leg and match it with other nylons that have one leg cut off. Basically, you are wearing two pairs of nylons with the bad legs cut off. I haven't tried it but it makes sense.

Now, I would love to hear how you make things last longer. Your turn . . .

[Michele Annette]

I love it Shell!

Keep Wool Sweaters looking great!

Hand wash only when necessary in a tub of cool water and about a tsp. of all natural delicate wash soap (such as Ecover delicate wash). Just push the suds through once or twice and let set in the water for 5 minutes. Treat any spots. Then with cool, not cold, water rinse the sweater thoughly but with not much aggitation, or your sweater may begin to felt. Once rinsed, roll your sweaters in several old towels (just in case you have colors in your sweater that may bleed.), to take out the water, Lie the sweaters flat or if they are bulkier, you can drape them across the center on a clothesline. Once dry, block with an iron and pick off any fuzz with a sweater shaver. I only wash my good wool sweaters about once a year, before I put them away for Summer.

[guest2]

Dilute your shampoo and use less. You do not need a huge dollop of that or conditioner. Usually a dime to nickle sized portion will do it.

[AmyBoz]

When you think you have squeezed the last possible bit out of your dishwashing soap, fill the bottle with water and shake it up really well. Next time you do dishes, pour the soapy water from the bottle in your sink. Washes just as great as the soap alone and you've gotten another few uses out of it!

[Telephus44]

On a variation in the dishwashing soap idea, when you get the the end of a spray bottle of cleaner (409, Fantastik, Windex, whatever) and there's a little left in the bottle that won't come out the spray nozzle, unscrew the top and add about 3/4 cup of water - it works almost as well (I have noticed that it doesn't work *exactly* as well) and you get a few more uses out of it (I get about an extra month).

[Shell]

Oh, Sara I need to do that to my windex.

[Michele Annette]

Great ideas!

[forestdale]

I always make my own dog food - I have two airedales and they eat a lot. They love the food I make, it's a mixture of beef, rice/barley/lentils and vegetables. Somedays when I have a few spare eggs, I cut down on their nightly meal. I give them one scoop instead of two. I make up for this by making them an eggflip, using the eggs and a little powdered milk. On those days I always make sure I give them some extra vegetables so I give them the tops and bottoms of any tomatoes I cut and when I eat a piece of fruit like an apple I give them the core with some apple still attached.
If I do this two days a week I stretch their food to last them 7 or 8 days instead of 6.

[blueknitter]

To also help extend the life of wool knits, when you rinse them, add a bit of cheapo lotion or hair conditioner to the water and swish it around before putting the item in. It smooths the shaft of the fiber like lanolin does when it's on the animal, keeps pilling down and eliminates a lot of the itchies.