Give me your frugal tips!

[blueridgewoman]

My "cause" for this month is to try to cut down as much as possible on our consumerism and wasteful stuff. (Last month was "cut out most meat" month. :) )

One thing I did when we moved six months ago was to start using cloth napkins- I bought some remnants from a fabric store (a yard and a half of thick fabric for $2!), headed over to my mom's, and sewed away for about three hours. Well worth it! I love them!

So now I'm thinking about cloth hankerchiefs, and wondering if I could also replace toilet paper (well, at least for the, uh, lighter variety bathroom visit...) with cloth.

My inspiration was reading this article about a family of six that only produced 7lbs of garbage a week!!! Wow.

So-- any other great ways to cut back?

[Chanley]

water instead of tp

the peri bottle was a suggestion a long time ago


i dont do it, but have thought about it

[Babydaze]

check out mangomama.com
She is awesome, and she does the cloth bathroom thing so you can get asome ideas!!

[daylily]

Hi from C'ville Blueridgewoman! You probably already have stopped using paper towels, but if not they're totally unneccessary. Also, I have glass storage jars for a lot of our food (such as dried beans, rice, grains, etc.) I buy the food in the bulk section of Integral Yoga and recycle the bags so there's less food packaging. I used to take my jars right to the store, when I lived in a different city and they would weigh the empty jars and then weigh them again after I'd filled them with whatever. I haven't done this yet at IY but it's worth looking into.

[blueridgewoman]

I do that too! I walk in there with a huge bag full of other bags and containers.

I loooove Integral Yoga. :) I could spend hours there, or at Whole Foods. :)

[veggienut]

i just found this website....frugal-moms.com...

[daylily]

I love whole foods too, but I always spend a fortune in there, so I only shop there for special occasions. Have you read the Tightwad Gazette books? They're full of frugal/environmental tips.

[rsps]

you can clean practically all household surfaces with baking soda and vinegar. Much cheaper and healthier than prepared cleanng solutions

[daylily]

Cloth pads are another way to generate less waste and save money. You can make them yourself out of flannel. A friend of mine bought something called "The Keeper." It's a reusable alternative to tampons and was profiled in the Tightwad Gazette, volume 1. I haven't tried it myself, but my friend felt it would take some practice to get the hang of using it.

[Lila]

Check your nearby fabric stores often for sales on their flannel fabrics. When it goes on sale (at the start of winter here) stockpile it! Get as much of it as you can afford to! You can use it for anything. You can make your own pads, wipies, diapers, face cloths, doll clothes, blankies, slings, whatever need arises! Plus you can have cute patterns on all your things! Imagine wiping baby's bum with a pretty little flowery wipe!:)