Lets revisit some of our tips

[piney]

that has saved us the most money.Maby it will help some one who is new here.If you have the same tips as other posters it just prove it is working.
Vinegar for fabric softner
Vinegar and soda for cleaning
Cloth napkins
Old wash clothes or part of old towels instead of paper towels (still use some paper towels but not as many)
Body wash,shampoo, and conditioner in pump bottle has saved me a lot.(don't poure out a hand full.)
Freezing milk, cake & bread in smaller portions.
Not going to grocery store as often making do with what i have at home.
Any one else want to share join in maby i can find more ways to save.

[Hamada]

Baking soda has many uses from freshening up rugs or shoes to a scrub for home or body.

Try to cook extra so you can freeze leftovers for a meal when you do not want to cook or need a quick meal.

Food is expense, be sure to use everything up that you can. You can always freeze items to put in a soup for later.

Look at the food you do have and keep in stockpile. Know at least three different ways you can use the food to help make meals interesting and at times cheap.

[larabelle]

Learn how to redo food in order to eat it for another meal...for instance for lunch have a casserole with sweet potatoes, onions, mushrooms and tomato sauce over rice. The next day or that evening make a meal of sweet potatoes, onions and mushrooms over a bed of kale and sprinkled it with parmesan cheese.

[oheoh's momma]

my big tip is see thru glass containers for leftovers if u can not see them u will forget about them.

dawn and a toothbrush for stain remover..this really works.

cleaners do have to be expensive comet and elbow grease is still a fab cleaner....

orange peels on the stove makes a good air freshner .(wish I had them more)

hanging clothes really does make your clothes last longer..

using less product still gets your clothes clean..

[frugalwarrior2]

dollar store spray bottle 2 parts vinegar/4 parts water (windows,counters,sinks etc.)
Dollar store spray bottle 1 part bleach and 5 parts water ( cleans almost any surface but wood)

Buy a state parks pass ($10. here) fish/fires/beach/hikes we put our kayaks in free. Great place to run the dogs on the 30ft leash in the fields. Nice scenery. Have a picnic.

Go g.saling just take a list so you can limit yourself.lol
Buy books at the library sale and then donate them back when your done. Avoid fees and get a tx. rebate

google coupon codes before purchases and before going to events like fairs. Also hair cuts,cars service,etc.

run a zero budget where every dollar has a name (D.R.) keeps you on plan.
Think outside the box, Shop at home and repurpose new items.

[BlissMommy]

Cut dryer sheets in half

Use rags instead of paper towels

Try and plan out errands for one day instead of many

Do laundry in the evenings and hang clothes

[ARCMOMMY]

I need to start freezing milk. I have never done this. I have to keep skim and vitamin d for the daycare and we drink 2%. Which one of those would freeze better. Anyone know?

[frugalwarrior2]

Arcmom-pore off a little for expansion. More fat should freeze better. Shake like crazy and let settle after defrost. i use it for cooking but I don't love the taste after freezing.

[Spirit Deer]

I would freeze the skim milk. Dairy products with fat sometimes get grainy after thawing, but you could freeze a cup of the 2% and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, it can still be used for baking.

My tip is not to skimp on tools you will use a lot. Buy good quality so it will stand up to years of use. I'm still using the Estwing hammer I bought in 1987, for example, and it's as good as the day I bought it in spite of the hundreds of hours of use it's gotten in the past decades. We've had cheaper hammers over the years and they haven't stood up to the use they got, while the Estwing will probably last me the rest of my life. Cheap tools are okay for occasional light use, but it's more costly to continually buy cheap tools that break than one good tool that lasts for those things you will need frequently. And by 'tools' I also mean things like kitchen items, sewing machines, and anything else that gets a lot of use and abuse.

Another tip is to learn to fix things yourself. YouTube is an amazing free resource, among others, that can show you how to fix a faucet or whatever.

Cook from scratch, even things you would normally not think of making yourself. The people here at FV have always impressed me because they seem to have a knack for finding out how to DIY stuff I wouldn't have even though of DIYing, and I've always thought of myself as an imaginative person. Learn to bake bread, make salad dressings from scratch, mix up your own condiments, etc. Recipes are everywhere online. Give something a try and find out how easy it is.

Assemble and maintain a pantry well-stocked with herbs, spices, and other ingredients so you can do the above. Don't buy exotic ingredients, but select a core group of ingredients that can be used for many different recipes.

Limit processed foods. What you save buying cheap foods, you may pay for big-time later in obesity and other serious health issues. Get enough exercise to help save on health care costs. Limiting portions and snacks cuts the grocery bill and also helps maintain a healthy weight and possibly avoid serious health issues.

Quit smoking. Duh.

Water is a perfectly good beverage and much cheaper and healthier than pop or other soft drinks. Put in a slice of lemon and a lot of ice for a refreshing treat in hot weather. Water quenches thirst better than carbonated beverages, too.

[Telephus44]

Buy marked down meat at the grocery store and freeze it.

Never buy anything online without looking for a coupon code.

[piney]

I only buy the 2 percent milk and i freeze it i can't tell any difference in taste after it is frozen i freeze in 1 cup containers for i only use it over cereal and cooking.

[oheoh's momma]

I strongly agree with spiritdeer about tools u get what u pay for..we buy hubby the best we can afford and scrimp and save for them...

I also cut fabric softner sheets in half...

[lisaflex]

i dont get and never will get how using cloths instead of paper towel saves $$...it just adds to the laundry....hence, another load of rags to wash and dry...

i cut downy softener w/ vinegar. if i do use dryer sheets, i cut it in thirds....i hang alot to ry and then cut the sheet in 1/3 and just throw the load in on air fluff w/ it after it has air dried....

[Sophiasmama]

In our home we do the following:

Baking soda and vinegar drain cleaner
vinegar as fabric softener
when the dishsoap is half gone,top up with vinegar to stretch it another 3 weeks.
buy discounted meats
recycle paper tea bag covers,perfect size to write down grocery lists and what not.
Use the library for movies,books,how to books,etc.

[Spirit Deer]

We usually don't use loads of rags at once, so they don't really take up extra space when we do laundry. Therefore, no added expense. We have a small box full of rags, maybe the size of two or three shoe boxes. It's rarely empty, and even if it was, it would still amount to less than a third of a load of wash. Definitely much cheaper than using paper towels and throwing them out (which then takes up space and adds weight in a trash bag and adds to the cost of throwing the trash.) It also takes a lot less space to store our little box of rags, about the same space as two or three rolls of paper towels. If we used paper towels instead of rags, we would need a lot more storage space.

One rag can wash an entire houseful of windows, whereas it would take lots of paper towels to do the same task, which is true of many chores. Rags can be wrung out and re-used repeatedly during the same task, unlike paper towels which will not stand up to that.

I hate paper towels just based on the fact they don't hold together very well when it comes time to do any actual washing.