I mix water with the milk to make it go further when we are running low.
I don't flush the toilet every time I pee to save on the water bill.
I buy gifts for my kids from the goodwill or other thrift shops if I can.
I re-use coffee grounds. DH likes his really strong, and we have a one cup coffee maker, so I make his first then re-use the grounds to make mine.
I save dryer lint. I really have no reason for that. I just can't make myself throw it away. Lol!
I save old sheets and make house dresses, nightgowns and aprons. They're usually ugly, but it works.
There are other things, but I can't think of them right now.
Do you do silly things because you're cheap or money is tight?
Make
garbage soup. It mostly veggies and a 1/2 pound of ground meat
and some tomatoes. But if you really
think about it, it's just veggies soup. I make a pot of this and it's
gone in about two days. And it is better the next day. I keep varies veggies in a bag in the freezer for this. And leftover veggies not eatten are tossed in the bag.
- Put a container in your freezer to make leftover soup. Throw the odds and ends of vegetables, pastas, rice, beans and other things you might put in a soup. When you’ve got a substantial amount — make a one-of-a-kind soup by adding some organic chicken or vegetable broth and some seasonings. You’ll end up with something interesting.
- If you’ve got a small amount of leftover vegetables from two or three nights in a row — say peas from Monday, zucchini from Tuesday, and corn from Wednesday, on Thursday heat them up and let everyone choose which one they want with their dinner.
- Leftover white rice from Chinese food? Here are five ideas for using up leftover, cooked white rice.
- Keep a bread bag in your freezer to put the ends of loaves of bread. When you need fresh bread crumbs, defrost a few slices and use your food processor to make the bread crumbs.
- When bananas get too brown to eat, put them in the freezer. Find a good banana bread recipe and when you’ve got enough for the recipe, defrost and make banana bread. The bananas will look thoroughly disgusting once your defrost them, but they’ll make great bread.
- Let the kids eat leftover mac and cheese, pastas, soups or just about anything for breakfast if they want. This drives my husband crazy for some reason, but my kids love it.
- Share — especially after a party or holiday meal. Send it home with your guests or give a whole meal's worth to a neighbor.
- Freeze small portions of leftover meat for nights when not everyone is going to be home. I use these small portions for nights I know my husband won’t be home. I’ll defrost the meat and split it up between the boys and me — none of us are big meat eaters. I’ll add some pasta and vegetables and we’re all happy, and I didn’t have to cook a main dish.
- Refrain from cooking something new until something still edible is used up. We’re become accustomed to having a huge variety of food to choose from, but if we’re going to try waste less food, we’re going to have to get used to eating things until they get eaten up.
- Start a compost pile for the food that doesn’t get eaten so it doesn’t end up in landfills. It can go back to nourish the earth to grow more food.
Quoting kmrtigger:Take
chicken and whatever is left over gets throw into the crock pot to
make stocks. Same with beef bones. When I buy a ham it is at least three
meals! Dinner, a lunch and the bone is great for beans. Oh and that
fatty beef? Makes great hash.
Here are some of my favorite tips for saving at the grocery store:
Make at least some of your own cleaning products. This has the added bonus of bringing fewer toxins into your home
This is what we use for most cleaning (initially used as part
of my daughter's 6th grade science fair project). It is cheap (my
favorite) and non toxic.
¼ cup white vinegar
¾ cup warm tap water
1 tablespoon baking soda
10 drops of tea tree oil (antibacterial, antifungal, etc.)
2 drops oil of lavender essential oil (antiseptic and smells nice)
Stop buying paper towels and napkins. Cloth napkins are more fun! Pick up cheap cotton towels at your favorite second hand shop. Save money and trees!!
Past the age of 2, the only beverage that humans need is water. Stop buying juice and sodas; buy milks only for cooking and cereal. You can liven up water with slices of fruits and vegetables; make ice cubes with blueberry eyeballs for the kids.
Replace meats with beans, lentils, tofu, seitan, etc. You can save even more money by using dried beans and lentils and making your own seitan.
Cook from scratch! Home cooked foods taste so much better than the nasty boxed stuff, and you will feel better because you are eating healthier foods.
Replace simple grains (white flour, white rice, white pasta,
etc.) with whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain
breads, etc.). While whole grains may cost more, they have more
nutrition and are more filling, so they really are the better value.
Frozen
fruits and vegetables have a longer shelf life than fresh and retain
their nutrition longer; they are often a better, less expensive option
than fresh.
Once or twice a week have breakfast for dinner. Popular options
at my house are: yogurt parfaits with frozen berries and whole grain
cereal; veggies omelets with a bit of cheese and whole grain toast;
whole grain pancakes with fruit.
Instead of baking a whole batch
of cookies, make and freeze cookie dough balls. No one will be tempted
to sneak a cookie (you know who you are) and when you do have cookies
they will be fresh baked.
Only go to the grocery store every 8 days. Before you shop, plan all of your meals and snacks for the next 8 days. Write your list, based on what you need to complete your meal plan. Pull any necessary coupons; eat before you go (never go to the grocery store hungry). Most important, buy only what is on your list. The specials at the store are not to save you money; they are to get you to buy items that you don't need. If you won't use it in 3 week, don't buy it!
ngredients
- Cooked roast beef
- Raw potatoes, peeled and quartered
- Yellow onion, peeled and quartered
- Grapeseed oil or olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Ketchup
Method
1 Take approximately equal proportions of beef, potatoes, and onions and put them through a meat grinder using a medium grinder attachment so that they are well mixed and ground.
2 Heat a large frying pan, preferably a cast iron pan, on medium high to high heat. Add the hash to the frying pan so that a half an inch of hash covers the bottom of the pan. If you have more hash to cook, do so in separate batches. Add several tablespoons of oil. Brown the hash, stirring only infrequently at first to make sure that the hash has an opportunity to brown well. As you cook the hash, add pinches of salt and fresh ground pepper. Do this a couple of times with each batch of hash. Cook for at least 10 minutes and until the hash is well browned.
Quoting Zamaria:
Haven't had hash in YEARS! My friend's grandma used to make it from leftover pot roast, and when she passed away, her recipe went with her. Would you share yours?
Quoting kmrtigger:Take
chicken and whatever is left over gets throw into the crock pot to
make stocks. Same with beef bones. When I buy a ham it is at least three
meals! Dinner, a lunch and the bone is great for beans. Oh and that
fatty beef? Makes great hash.
Instead of buying special bath products for colds, I just add a couple of drops of peppermint oil to the kids' bath water. Really helps with stuffy noses! I also use it with the vaporizer instead of buying the Vick's stuff. If you add peppermint oil to melted coconut oil it is similar to Vick's vapor rub. And I use honey instead of cough syrup. Works a LOT better for soothing scratchy throats and it's good for ya!
I will buy the cheap toilet paper when money gets tight (but only when I have too- other times, I only buy it for the kids bathroom), if I am home alone or at night, I don't flush every time I go pee either. I don't wash my hair but every 3 days, so I don't buy shampoo but once every 8-12 weeks (plus my hair has had less split ends and has grown much faster since I started washing it a lot less). We have cut out cable and home phone. We have turned our thermostat down and everyone has an extra blanket on their beds. We are replacing all regular light bulbs with CFL's, and we are unscrewing extra lights in our light strip in the bathroom- it's like a Hollywood dressing room in there. I use less than the recommended amount of laundry detergent- it still gets the clothes clean. I use a steamcleaner for my hard surface floors and then it pops apart into a handheld and I can do my shower stalls and mirrors so I save on cleaning solutions with that.
We saved so much money once we stopped buying soda. We can buy a box of tea and it last forever or a bottle of lemon juice to add a couple of drops to our water if we want that and we have saved tons! We also do the breakfast for dinner a couple of times a week and eggs are so cheap compared to meat- my kids love them and we didn't spend $7 just on the protien part of the meal. I do have to do pancakes or frenchtoast occasionally, they need to be spoiled sometimes:)
Quoting kmrtigger:Here are some of my favorite tips for saving at the grocery store:
Make at least some of your own cleaning products. This has the added bonus of bringing fewer toxins into your home
This is what we use for most cleaning (initially used as part of my daughter's 6th grade science fair project). It is cheap (my favorite) and non toxic.
¼ cup white vinegar
¾ cup warm tap water
1 tablespoon baking soda
10 drops of tea tree oil (antibacterial, antifungal, etc.)
2 drops oil of lavender essential oil (antiseptic and smells nice)
Stop buying paper towels and napkins. Cloth napkins are more fun! Pick up cheap cotton towels at your favorite second hand shop. Save money and trees!!
Past the age of 2, the only beverage that humans need is water. Stop buying juice and sodas; buy milks only for cooking and cereal. You can liven up water with slices of fruits and vegetables; make ice cubes with blueberry eyeballs for the kids.
Replace meats with beans, lentils, tofu, seitan, etc. You can save even more money by using dried beans and lentils and making your own seitan.
Cook from scratch! Home cooked foods taste so much better than the nasty boxed stuff, and you will feel better because you are eating healthier foods.
Replace simple grains (white flour, white rice, white pasta, etc.) with whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain breads, etc.). While whole grains may cost more, they have more nutrition and are more filling, so they really are the better value.
Frozen fruits and vegetables have a longer shelf life than fresh and retain their nutrition longer; they are often a better, less expensive option than fresh.Once or twice a week have breakfast for dinner. Popular options at my house are: yogurt parfaits with frozen berries and whole grain cereal; veggies omelets with a bit of cheese and whole grain toast; whole grain pancakes with fruit.
Instead of baking a whole batch of cookies, make and freeze cookie dough balls. No one will be tempted to sneak a cookie (you know who you are) and when you do have cookies they will be fresh baked.Only go to the grocery store every 8 days. Before you shop, plan all of your meals and snacks for the next 8 days. Write your list, based on what you need to complete your meal plan. Pull any necessary coupons; eat before you go (never go to the grocery store hungry). Most important, buy only what is on your list. The specials at the store are not to save you money; they are to get you to buy items that you don't need. If you won't use it in 3 week, don't buy it!
What is with the sassy mouth?
- Zamaria
on Feb. 27, 2012 at 8:50 AM