What new frugal thing have you done? - Page 9

[CandyApple]

Great thread!

I'm trying to think of new things I've done lately, but upon review, I'm realizing I've fallen off the frugality wagon. Thanks for motivating me to get back on track!

One thing Christmas related that I did was make up a home-made version of the dice game LeftCenterRight to put in our family baskets we exchange. Using a school supply site I was able to make 12 games for $18!

[Pinoikoi]

Ok- we moved last winter (actually had things ON The Truck New Years Eve), so I got rid of lots of wrapping paper and such that I knew would not survive the move.. I saved some paper gift bags that would fold flat, but really didn't want to pack things that would end up as junk, kwim?

So when I went through Christmas boxes, I realized I would need to shop to wrap gifts this year.. I have decided it is a good time to break my wrapping paper tendencies...

the first weren't so frugal- but if you give me a minute-

I bought

*wrapsacks from ebay that were cheaper than the website
*wrapsacks locally that were also on sale (tried to get more holiday colors)
Then I went to a thrift store

found a bunch of fabric gift bags for about $.40-$1 each. I found a cool reversible bag from Nordstroms, a fabric bag that looks like a wrapsack without the tie, tiny little ones for like earrings or something (maybe they were wedding favors?), some bigger canvasy type ones (maybe had building blocks or something inside)?, and some velvet ones (reminded me of something that liquor might have come in at one time)..

They also had zippered pillow shams which I thought might make good gift bags if you put the gift standing up in the bottom, zipped the top and added a tie midway ala tootside roll.. but the pillows were kind of ugly- just stored the idea away for sometime when I find pillow shams that are dressier looking..

I stopped at Michaels' craft store and found some HUGE feltlike bags with ties in specifically holiday themes.. really cute Santas and Frosties, and snowflakes.. $2.99 each..

So this isn't like frugal stuff TODAY (except maybe the thrift store finds), but I think they are frugal because I will not be buying wrapping paper anymore.. I can just reuse them and reuse them.. If I have no problem reusing the paper gift bags (and regifting them even) then I am sure to use the cute ones I picked up today over and over again as well!

[cera]

I always save the gift bags I've gotten throughout the year no matter where they are from be it a gift or a bag from a store. The gift bags are all kept together in a rubbermaid holiday gift bag/tote, I reuse them for our house or for others gifts, tissue paper new and used goes in here as well.

The gift bags from stores/ restaurants etc with logos and such are saved in a separate area for items going out of the house for somebody, for example when you declutter your items to certain people you can bag them all up for them. I always seem to have a bag on the go for my g/f. Items I've bought for her or her daughter, items from my home, things to return that I borrowed, pics the usual.

I am trying to not buy anymore gift wrap, it's so hard not to though, lol.

We have stopped using paper towels and have switched to cloth.

We are slowly making the switch out of our regular cleaners and opting for vinegar/baking soda etc solutions.

I am making an effort to be more conscious of my consumption of water and electricity and asking my family to do the same.

I plan to make a sweep of the house and unplug all items not being used, also plan to switch some items to and from power bars to control electricity on sometime used items.

Also plan to put plastic on all windows and bricks in the toilet tanks.

Have been decluttering on an ongoing basis in hopes I will stop rebuying items we already own, selling off unneeded items online locally, making effort to use all items I am currently stockpiling for special occasion that never happens and stop buying more.

DH has switched to hankies.....blech, lol.

We have bought enough cloth bags to make up for laziness/forgetfulness and have made a better efforts to remember them and keep track of them in the house and the car.

Try not to shop without a purpose/need. Avoid stores or sections of stores that are a problem for you or that you know have nothing you need/want.

I have been taking in the boys old clothes that I am not keeping for consignment and not taking the money but using my credit there to buy new clothing for the boys. What the consignment shop will not take I try to sell online locally before donating or freecycling.

Try very hard to think before I buy, not buy something b/c it is cute or useful or love the color blah blah blah. This is becoming a little more easier due to the decluttering process you become more aware of your purchases.

Thrift stores, garage sales, book sales, online sales, kijiji.ca, craiglist shopping smartly.

I'm sure there's more but that all I can remember right now.

[MittensKittens]

I've been cooking meals from scratch, not letting food go bad, and freezing lots of meals. Also, no more take out coffeees :! I find we are eating healthier and saving quite a lot but there is so much more that could be done... So hoping for more tips!

[mama_mich]

Shared dinner with community!

[Overproducktion]

Using a school supply site I was able to make 12 games for $18!

Would you mind posting the link? We are homeschoolers, and that sounds like a great place for supplies!

[starling&diesel]

new frugal things ...

• we're not spending money on Christmas, other than on the meal we will make and share with our friends and family as our present to them
• we've managed to put together a fantastic baby's room by repurposing items from around the house, using hand-me-downs, and buying second hand. We even got the paint with a gift certificate we had to Home Depot, and the curtains from Ikea by returning something from there that we never used
• I made a home management binder, to help keep track of our life so that we're not spending unecessarily because of being unorganized. I even put a "Where is it?" section to keep track of those pesky items that 'disappear' and so you end up buying another one.
• we posted our debt total on the fridge, in big red numbers ... to help us remember our goal to pay it off asap
• we've kept our receipts for the last two months (and will for the rest of the year) to get a clear idea of what we spend over time.

[mom2tristan04]

After our bill more than doubled last month, we've been keeping the heat to a bare minimum (on to warm it up in the mornings and at nights), and instead are buying warm socks, sweats, and blankets. We're being a lot more careful about leaving lights and appliances turned on when not in use. DS and I get a lot of physical exercise around the house so we stay warm even when the temperature drops more than would normally be comfortable.

I've been obsessively hunting for deals and getting good at using everything we have in the house for groceries. For a family of three, we're eating well for $40-50/week right now. Cutting meat out of at least a couple dinners per week is helping.

We live in an apartment with no washer/dryer hookups, so we're stuck with a coin-op downstairs. We discovered we're spending about $60-70/month to wash clothes. I went and bought dry racks, 5 gallon buckets, soap, and a plunger, and I'm doing all our clothes by hand in the bathtub. Occasionally we'll use the dryer, but mostly things are line drying. We discovered just how little the washing machine was washing our clothes when I handwashed a couple *clean* clothes and the water in the bucket turned brown almost immediately. Yuck.

We're putting plastic over all the windows. It's helping a lot.

[orangefoot]

Originally Posted by missmich

I will NOT allow myself to buy any bath and body products except for toothpaste,deo and tampons for at least the next 6 months! I have way to many things all ready and don't need to waste any more money!

Buy a Mooncup and you will never buy tampons again!

We have never use paper products in the kitchen and gave up paper tissues a couple of years ago but I've just restocked our 'hankie drawer' with squares cut from a new batch of t shirts that are stained or outgrown so can't be put in the charity bag. Every year I make about a dozen and overlock the edges so that everyone knows what can be used to blow their nose on and not wipe their bum with!

I've re-purposed old clothes into new things for dd who is a consumer deep in her genes already at 5 (darned ILs)

Saving on gas bills by not switching on our central heating at all and just using the oil filled heater downstairs and getting into bed to get warm upstairs!

This year we will be re-using the sacks I sewed from old sheets to put the children's gifts into. Plain white, sewn three sides only, no frills, tied with a red ribbon and their initials on them with a Sharpie. I have smaller bags for individual gifts but they all go into the sack. No wrapping paper at all!

I need to make a home management folder with a section on 'Where is....' as a pp suggested. We have just rediscovered some Christmas lights, three winter coats, a quilted raincoat and a box of stickle bricks and duplo when clearing out or attic to have more insulation put down.......

[CandyApple]

Originally Posted by Overproducktion

Would you mind posting the link? We are homeschoolers, and that sounds like a great place for supplies!

Sure - I went thru here http://www.eaieducation.com/530178.html

The game is described here http://www.toycrossing.com/lcr/index.shtml

Hope that helps. I didn't really shop around, I was looking for quick and easy, and they were!

[katheek77]

I'm not wrapping any gifts this year. I hate it anyway. Things wills get bows or pretty Christmas boxes or shoved in stockings, depending on size.

And, anyone who knows my mother knows that a box does NOT get thrown out. I might as well continue the tradition. It gets reused until it breaks. Like, for decades, with total disregard for the original present. I swear, I'll never forget the year I opened a genuine TIFFANY'S box and, nestled inside, was the loveliest pair of socks .

My mom had gotten my grandmother something from Tiffany's literally seven years prior.

[heart-n-bones]

yeah, my mom uses the same boxes every year. When I was in middle school 15 years ago maybe, one of us got SIM Earth game for the computer. It's part of the fun and surprise at Christmas every year to see who will unwrap the SIM Earth box this year, regasdless of what it contains!

[Tizzy]

I made my own laundry soap this week I'm so proud of myself! I calculated that the "green" store brand I use costs me $9/month. Doesn't seem like much, but when I can make my own for - $15/year - I can't pass that up.

Last week I made my own yogurt - I'm trying to cut back on the largest section of our grocery bill: dairy products.

So I can make our own yogurt, and I might just attempt to make our own cream cheese but I'm at a loss for cottage cheese, sour cream, whipping cream and regular cheese. So we do without for the most part.

[rebirth]

We're eating out less- down from about 5-x a week for dinner to 1-2, which has saves SO much! We've never eaten out so much, I usually cook, but we're at my mothers right now, so it's been harder to eat in. We've also started being really particular about where we go.

We aren't giving eachother gifts for chanuka, just cards. We're going to see our families- so we'll be spending enough already.

We eat lots of organics- it's really important to me, but lately I've been waking up to go the the farmers market and buying produce their, and saving about 50% off normal prices.

I bought 1.5yrd of flannel for 3.74$ and have made fabric toilet paper, which I've calculated will save us over 100$ a yr.

we're buying a house and will be saving 400$ from our former rent, all while working towards OWNING something!

We've been religiously paying off debt- we're down from over 7000$ months ago to about 1500$ now, and shrinking.

I've been sewing diaper soakers from fleese I had bought months ago to give as gifts or save for our child.

We've switched from expensive personal hygine products to $store ones, and cloth pads for me. A savings of about 30+$ a month.

I have a LOT more I want to do, but all in time.

[EmsMom]

Well, here is a new one. I helped out a friend by agreeing to drop off some things for her at the thrift store. She was not interested in the tax deduction, so I am going to take it. (Hey, I offered it and urged her to take it!). She also gave me tons of quilting books because she knew that I quilt. I took about 15 quilting books that are selling for $10 and up on Amazon. I am going to sell them. The probably wouldn't sell great at the thrift store, anyway. It was as if someone unloaded a whole yard sale of stuff into my car. Couldn't believe how much stuff there was. Lots of it brand new still in the box. So I hope the thrift store can sell it. They are really having a hard time right now so if I sell some more books I can send them some more money which is good.

[Pippi]

Picked through our cell phone bill and eliminated all extras - there were all sorts of things we were being charged for that we don't need. We don't have a land line.

Our youngest (3) will not be returning to his "preschool" class come January. Its play-based, just 2 hrs twice a week, and they mostly do art - he seems to like it ok but not love it, but we'll save $85 a month. Cheap for preschool but not cheap for us right now.

We are re-using EVERYTHING we can as art supplies. Scraps of paper, cardboard, jars, old clothing gets turned into fabric scraps or sewn into little bags, etc.

Cancelled netflix a few months ago.

Am selling whatever I can on craigslist.


Cable internet is our only luxury and I REALLY depend on it.

[katheek77]

Originally Posted by Little grey mare

ISo I can make our own yogurt, and I might just attempt to make our own cream cheese but I'm at a loss for cottage cheese, , whipping cream and regular cheese. So we do without for the most part.

Cottage cheese is dead simple. Even simpler than cream cheese

1 gallon milk
1/2 C vinegar

Heat milk to 190 degrees (or, if you don't have a thermometer, until right BEFORE boiling - don't let it boil). Remove from heat, pour in vinegar, and stir slowly until curds form (it should be almost instantaneous - if it doesn't, it may not have been heated enough - just put back on heat, and stir slowly while heating). Strain/drain through cheesecloth.

I do know some people add salt and/or more milk to the finished cottage cheese

For cream cheese:
1 quart milk (use whole milk for best results)
2 t salt
1/2 T lemon juice (optional)
2 T vinegar

Bring milk and salt slowly to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and lemon juice, allow to cool. Pour into cheesecloth and allow to drip for approx. 8 hours.

[kmeyrick]

Okay, I unplug everything except the fridge and radio clock when I am not using certain appliances. I use washcloths to clean everything. Pretty much everything I get is pre-owned. I no longer buy Dunkin Donuts tea, which I sooooo love. (Evil corporation, I know, I know). I only drive to work, home, and my grad school classes. I have no cable.

[EmsMom]

Originally Posted by katheek77

For cream cheese:
1 quart milk (use whole milk for best results)
2 t salt
1/2 T lemon juice (optional)
2 T vinegar

Bring milk and salt slowly to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and lemon juice, allow to cool. Pour into cheesecloth and allow to drip for approx. 8 hours.

Can you tell me about how much this recipe makes? In cups, maybe? And can it be frozen. My family likes cream cheese but doesn't eat all that much of it. Thanks.

[Tizzy]

Thank you thank you thank you katheek77!!

I've been scouring the internet but could only find complicated recipes but these sound so simple, I'll just give it a go. And it's all ingredients that I already have


Cloth toilet paper...I just don't think I could do that...