okay guys...we all have heard a million times the 'ways to save money' but they are all becoming just the 'obvious' ones....(which is great for those just starting out)...but how about stepping it up a notch....how about sharing those 'not so obvious...off the wall...downright weird...i won't say 'gross' ..you make the call on that one....lol.....' ways to save money....
no 'turn out the lights....stay home....cook from scratch....(unless you are like catching mice in your mousetraps and frying them up for b-fast (YUK)....anyway.... how about it...wanna share some of your 'secret' ways ????
i myself don't have anything good to contribute just yet...i'm really hoping i can pick up some stuff from you guys....i have been saving my bathwater and filling up the toilet tank lately but that's all i got...but i'm WILLING to take it further if i knew how....
The Following User Says Thank You to sabrelvssammy For This Useful Post:
I no longer use tampons... I love, love, love my Diva cup. It is cheaper, greener, and more convienent. I realized this might be considered extreme by some people when I was singing its praises to some girlfriends and they looked at me like I'd sprouted a third eyeball.
(and btw, I actually had to supress my gag reflex with that mouse comment.... eeeewwwwww! )
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**Hope**
"We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobile rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind. " Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A lot of the weeds growing on your lawn are edible - dandelions are the only ones I know off the top of my head, but if you look at the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants for your region you can find others.
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Fling Challenge 263/2010
Last edited by monkeywrangler71; 02-16-2009 at 10:18 AM.
I'm with Hope on this one, except I have a Mooncup - same difference though. I know it's not for everyone, some people just have an aversion to their bodies in all its natural glory but there ya go. I can't imagine EVER going back, for far more than reasons dealing with frugality.
We eat dandilion greens in salads & soups and the flowers dipped in a beer batter and fried.
We grow Mullien and make our own tincture for Asthma. We also grow MANY other herbs and make our own medicines. I brew horehound tea and make our own cough drops. We make calcium supplements by dissovling egg shells in vinegar. We get extra iron in our diets by cooking in cast iron.
My Mother made clothing last longer by adding pretty strips of material to lengthen the arm and shirt lengths and lengthen pants legs. She even widened clothing by adding strips of material on the sides. It was alway beautiful and looked like she wanted it that way.
My Sister embrodries (not sure how to spell that) over stains on clothing. She made the most beautiful pair of jeans with a peacock and swirly designs that went all the way down the length of one of her pant legs. My sister also cuts up all clothing and mades quilts, and quilted pillows and curtains, room divider panels, ect. One quilt made just from jeans. She also made heavy quited curtains from old jeans.
I dye my clothing when it starts to look fade or worn. I shave the pills off my clothing.
I save every bit of leftovers even if it is just a teaspoon and put it in a container in the freezer. When filled I'll add more broth, meat or vegetable and make soup. Some of the best soups have come from this. Hence the name garbage soup.
Put in just about everything
leftover oatmeal
baked potatoes
left over salad (rinse off dressing, don't worry if somes still left)
macaroni and cheese
broth, pan drippings
bits of meat, bread, vegetables, pasta, rice, barley or any other tid bits left.
I water my plants with potato or pasta water. They grow like mad. Cheaper then plant food.
I use FelsNaptha soap to scrub down my bathroom and kitchen. I just get a wash cloth good and lathered up and start scrubbing. Rinse then dry.
I clean my windows and mirrors with vinegar water and food ciruclars that come in the mail every week.
I guess that's about it. Not sure if this is what you were looking for.
oh, I thought of one more. My Uncle raise rabbits in his back yard for meat. When my cousins were growing up thet had either rabbit or deer for dinner most nights. He still raises rabbits and hunts for his food. He also had a huge garden and his wife canned and dried foods on big screen doors with sheets covering them.
and around here we have a state park where you can get on a deer kill list and when a deer get hit by a car you can go pick it up and take it home to butcher.
Well we do dumpster dive, have gotten food and household items this way.
I work from home, so am only one home all day, keep the heat real low in the mid 50's and stay wrapped up at my desk in an electric blanket I bought at the thrift store for $5.
We have bubble wrap in all our windows, looks a bit ghetto in the winter time.
When I take a shower, put the plug in and let the heat fom the water get absorbed into the room after my shower. About 2 hours later when it's cold, then I pull the plug, but not before harvesting that heat back into the house.
We make our own colladial silver instead of buying at health food store.
Everything else is fairly "normal"; Reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle. Garden, wash ziplocs, stockpile grocery shopping, can and preserve food. We do some wild edibles, but not many.
Not a good year for acorns, but I've also read about making acorn meal, and want to try it. This fall, the acorns were very scarce. Last year, they were all over the place. So, I'm hoping this next fall, I'll be able to give it a try.
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DH aka Mad Hen
EF fund: $0/$2,500.00
March grocery: $0/355 March no-spend: 9/15 2010 Lose-A-Pound-A-Week: 8/12 (146.8 - 138.8)
Home decorating swaps are a big deal around here. You just get a big group of people and someone who is willing to host it.
Items wanted:
old curtains
blankets, sheets, bedspreads
knick knacks
old pictures, art work etc.
Small furniture and pictures of big pieces of furniture
sometimes housewares are included, like toasters
Everyone goes through the loot and starts swapping.
Garden swaps are big too. A group decides what they will grow and then everyone swaps produce through out the growing season.
My son and his friends do book swaps.
and some moms around here do clothing and toy swaps.
Connect with Facebook
the 'really radical' ones.....
is about to follow so reader beware!
EF $828.58
LAPAW 9.25/115
STARTING DEBT $40,567.12
DEBT TO DATE $25,211.01
EF fund: $0/$2,500.00 
March grocery: $0/355 
March no-spend: 9/15
2010 Reading Challenge: 8/100 
2010 Recipe-a-Month: 1/12 
2010 Veggie Recipe-a-Month: 2/12
Run/walk challenge: 26/520 miles 
2010 Skill-a-Month: 1/12 
2010 Project-a-Month: 1/12 
Fling 2010 in 2010: 415/2010
Total debt (with mortgage, HELOC, and 2 cc's): Nov 2009: $302886.42
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