I know, this thread is nothing new but I always love reading these types of posts and get inspired with new ideas on how to be frugal.
My latest--
Use leftover water from my kids sippy cups and water house plants.
Switched from buying pre-made pizza crust to making it from scratch.
Hanging beach towels and suits and re-wearing rather then washing after each time.
Making sure to fill water bottles from home so we are not buying them when we are out.
What are yours????
-Using a bucket to collect water when I'm waiting for it to warm up for my shower.
-Switched to using cloth towels instead of paper towels.
I dont have any new things I've been doing. But the things I've done today:
baked bread
hung my laundry
made rhubarb muffins instead of letting rhubarb go 2 waste
made lasagna roll-ups instead of letting the zuke and eggplant go 2 waste
dried some herbs from the garden for winter
made stock w my veggie scraps
Went to the library yesterday to get a stack of magazines,movies & books for the the kids and I for the week. Love not paying for cable,books or magazines. I stayed w my family for a couple of weeks and saw the amount my aunt spent on magazines like people...holy does it ever add up!
We had a BBQ here this weekend and had some coolers on the deck. I gave the kids plastic cups and let them water all the flower pots with the melted ice water in the coolers.
While I always use reusable water bottles, I bought a case of bottled water at the store for the BBQ and of course there were half empty bottles of water all over my yard! So in the flower pots those went too.
Since I've filled up the kiddie pool, I also give them the job of watering the plants from the water in the pool. lol
And i also made raspberry smoothies for lunch today with the squishy raspberries in the fridge.
I also made a fruit salad for another BBQ I went to and had tons left over. It was breakfast for the girls and dessert tonight also. The rest of it was blended up in the blender and we made popsicles.
i fixed my gutters and collect water from the down spouts (ya know, if it would ever rain)
We are having Rubens for supper because I scored $.99 a pound corned beef.
We hang and re-use towels,
We buy our produce at the Farmers market
We meal plan and eat up the fridge before buying more food - the only thing that has gone to waste in a long time is a little bit of sour cream.
We carry water/drinks everywhere and never buy bottled water.
We don't use baby wipes - just slide baby's bum under the sink for a rinse.
I've started growing herbs so we no longer need to buy them.
WE make LOADS of popcorn from scratch - it's our main snack and it's so easy and CHEAP!
WE alter DS' clothes so its a long time before he outgrows anything.
I'm on the verge of family cloth - when I was pregnant I had wretched yeast infections and got into the habit of washing myself (sorry, tmi???) every time I went to the lu instead of using tp. My bits and I would be happier if we just went FC, so that's what's happening next!
It's getting SUPER HOT in our apartment so once the sun starts shining in we close all the blinds to keep it cool and save on air con.
I think that's it. I'd like to add more to the list - make our own bread, granola, sprout our own beans etc. I think July will be a month of great progress in this home 
How do you make your own popcorn?
How do you make your own popcorn?
and keep shaking the pot. The popcorn will start popping, then wait until you're only getting a couple of pops a second and you're done. It helps avoid burning if you plunge the bottom of the pot into water immediately after. Cover the popcorn with salt and nutritional yeast and mmm....yummy.... the oil also helps those stick to the popcorn.
OT: Just jumping about popcorn, since this is one of our favorite simple, cheap snacks too and I have finally mastered how to make good popcorn lol! Cover the bottom of a pot with oil and put on the stove at medium-high. Add ONE kernel of popcorn and wait until that kernel pops. Then, add popcorn in one layer over the bottom of the pot. Cover, but leave the lid slightly askew so steam can escape and shake frequently. Something about waiting until the oil is really hot before adding the popcorn makes it nice and fluffy and also helps almost all the kernels pop so there are almost no hard or burnt ones on the bottom :)
and keep shaking the pot. The popcorn will start popping, then wait until you're only getting a couple of pops a second and you're done. It helps avoid burning if you plunge the bottom of the pot into water immediately after. Cover the popcorn with salt and nutritional yeast and mmm....yummy.... the oil also helps those stick to the popcorn.
We use soap but lather up a pouf with it before soaping ourselves down... that brings it down to an acceptable level of grossness. We are all family, after all! :)
OT: Just jumping about popcorn, since this is one of our favorite simple, cheap snacks too and I have finally mastered how to make good popcorn lol! Cover the bottom of a pot with oil and put on the stove at medium-high. Add ONE kernel of popcorn and wait until that kernel pops. Then, add popcorn in one layer over the bottom of the pot. Cover, but leave the lid slightly askew so steam can escape and shake frequently. Something about waiting until the oil is really hot before adding the popcorn makes it nice and fluffy and also helps almost all the kernels pop so there are almost no hard or burnt ones on the bottom :)
Hey, thanks for that advice! Our air popper leaves the popcorn chewy instead of crunchy, but whenever I've made it with oil, it always tastes overcooked to me--with a kind of almost-burnt taste. I bet your method will help me avoid that! I'll definitely be trying it next time.
Today I:
-hung up one load of laundry (and got it in before the thunderstorm hit)
-made strawberry rhubarb crumble, chocolate muffins, and 2 loaves of wheat bread all at once to limit the time the oven was on
-planned ahead for lunch and snacks for the car for tomorrow's vacation
-filled some water bottles and put them in the freezer for tomorrow
-filled some tubs with water to have ice for the cooler (rather than buying it)
Not so frugal:
-cracked the plastic on the shower head when I adjusted it during my shower. I plan to turn this around by at least replacing it with a low flow head.
oops, double post
-hand wash & hang laundry
-POPCORN! :)
-always reusable water bottles
-eat homegrown beans & other goodies
-walk/bike everywhere
-buy almost exclusively 2nd hand clothes
-" " for baby on the way or make clothes (more fun anyway!)
-reusable bags, towels for carrying & storing foodies
-Dh makes all furniture (except the bed)
fun thread! always inspired by the ways of others, too!
I read this hint last year and this year I tried it out: Use space blankets (that reflect something like 90% of heat) to block out the hot sun coming in through my windows. I bought several tension curtain rods (at a yard sale for less than a dollar). I hung the folded up reflecting blankets over the rod, clipping the bottom with one of those paper binding clips so that the "curtains" could move freely on the rod. On cooler days I push them back and secure them with a clothes pin. On hot days, I pull them shut. Today it was 95 or 97 out (depending on which thermometer I was looking out). I came home and did not even think about the air conditioner. In fact I didn't even need the fan until I started cleaning. My total expense was about $15 for the space blankets and I could probably have gotten cheaper ones (bought then at Kmart). Of course buying the rods new would have been more money. But the rods can be used and reused in other house. But much, much cheaper than anything else I could have purchased, such as black out curtains or something. And I haven't needed the air conditioner at all. Even if I do use it some days, it should still be cheaper as it won't have to cool as much. My electric bill this month was only around $30. (I have been using other electricity saving techniques as well.)
Mine are related to home renovations.
We decided it's in the budget to put up insulation and siding on our house this summer.
-instead of doing it totally DIY we're hiring a friend of a friend, jack of all trades guy (he's already done our roof and we love him). DH and I will work with him (cheap labour) but love that it will be done right, no second guessing.
-he wrote up a material list so we'll be shopping around. Found some great deals for Reno Depot (part of Rona) including buy 12 of same item and get the 13th free, they say they beat others prices by 10% (and will give a discount if you find it lower elsewhere) AND my mom has a bunch of coupons (spend $250 and get $25 in gift cards etc). I found all this by looking at their website and plan to print it up for when we go to the store.
-we might do our floors later this fall and supposedly we can borrow a floor sander from BIL's uncle. He bought one when he refinished all the floors in his big apartment block. You never know who owns what!
-also, adding extra insulation in the attic and vents in the peak of the roof on each side has made a HUGE difference this summer. We have a 1.5 story home and the upstairs was SO HOT last summer. (And cold in winter).
For people who have high heating/cooling bills I highly encourage you to INSULATE! It will be your best friend. Also, there are so many grants around. Check your provincial/state/federal government websites.
We have electricity through Hydro Quebec and you can do a home diagnostic by filling out a questionnaire. They use the info from your file and say roughly how much you spend on heating, hot water, lights, laundry etc. I loved it!
Turned the temperature down on our hot water tank - saves us 10 or 15$ per month!
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