I'm so cheap that I....

nakabi

Basic laundry recipe:

1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1 cup shredded laundry soap bar(fels-naptha, zote- or you can use regular bar soap like dove/ivory)

Just mix it all up in a lidded container and give it a good shake/stirring each use and I use a tablespoon for normal wash and 2 tablespoons for heavier soiled clothes.

what exactly is borax and washing soda and where do you buy it? how much does it cost?

I even tried this on nasty old towels that got all mildewy and it got them clean....plus you save a TON of money. Also, it is low sudsing so can be used safely in HE machines.

lilac67

I GET MY MUSIC OFF YOUTUBE CONVERTER - F** PAYING ITUNES

Ha, yes, I do this too. Not because I'm cheap, just because I can

What is a youtube converter, and how do I get one ??

kapeluza

I GET MY MUSIC OFF YOUTUBE CONVERTER - F** PAYING ITUNES

Ha, yes, I do this too. Not because I'm cheap, just because I can

What is a youtube converter, and how do I get one ??

Google youtube converter.

snowfox92

I GET MY MUSIC OFF YOUTUBE CONVERTER - F** PAYING ITUNES

Ha, yes, I do this too. Not because I'm cheap, just because I can

What is a youtube converter, and how do I get one ??

it makes it so you can get music from youtube into mp3 form into itunes. just go to google and type in youtube to mp3

nakabi

I make my own laundry soap. I used cloth diapers for both of my children when they were babies. I don't buy pre-packaged foods very often, not out of concern for health, but because they're more expensive. I never use paper towels unless my mother is visiting. I don't use disposable menstrual products or anything else for which there is a reusable alternative.

And we're still broke. Just think how broke we'd be if I weren't so cheap!

We use cloth diapers too and we love them!!!!!!! Nothing cuter than a cloth diapered baby bum
It saves us a ton of money and it's great for the environment. We also have never had any diaper rash which also saves money on diaper rash cremes.

I make all of our baby food (just blend whatever we eat and put it in ice-cube trays. Once frozen, just put the cubes into a freezer bag and it is the perfect portion.

I plan all my meals ahead for the week and that way I only use the oven once (if needed). It keeps the electric bill down. When I do use the oven, in the winter, after I've finished cooking, I keep the door open (safety gate is locked to the kitchen) and it helps warm the house for free

I buy most of our clothing at the consignment stores. I don't ever buy red meat if it's not on clearance. Just freeze it and it's perfectly fine.

Thanks for all your suggestions; I've enjoyed getting ideas. I might just have to check into making the laundry soup..hmmmmmm

ajbeans

Thanks for all your suggestions; I've enjoyed getting ideas. I might just have to check into making the laundry soup..hmmmmmm

It's really easy. I used to make the liquid version, but the powdered works just as well, is easier to make, and takes up less storage space so you can make a bigger batch. My biggest suggestion though is to get a food processor that seals well and that you use ONLY for your detergent. When you grind up the soap the dust gets everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies, and you don't want that getting in your baby food.

fastbelly

One thing I've learned the hard way was...

if you run or jog, don't skimp on your shoes!!!

cassblue21

bump

nakabi

Thanks for all your suggestions; I've enjoyed getting ideas. I might just have to check into making the laundry soup..hmmmmmm

It's really easy. I used to make the liquid version, but the powdered works just as well, is easier to make, and takes up less storage space so you can make a bigger batch. My biggest suggestion though is to get a food processor that seals well and that you use ONLY for your detergent. When you grind up the soap the dust gets everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies, and you don't want that getting in your baby food.

first of all, sorry for the typo. (that was supposed to be laundry soap, not soup haha)

how exactly do you make it? is it very time consuming? feel free to message me..thanks

Goldenbast

Borax and washing soda can be found in the laundry detergent isle...borax is like 20 mule team and washing soda is made by arm and hammer...there may be other brands but those are the ones I know..I get it at walmart.

tea_and_tofu

i never pay for my music.
always duck tape things when they break.
im always shopping in the clearance section for cloths. there is no way i can spend $30+ on jeans.

kimi131

I don't have cable. Never have, probably never will.

lilac67

I GET MY MUSIC OFF YOUTUBE CONVERTER - F** PAYING ITUNES

Ha, yes, I do this too. Not because I'm cheap, just because I can

What is a youtube converter, and how do I get one ??

it makes it so you can get music from youtube into mp3 form into itunes. just go to google and type in youtube to mp3

Thank you!! :flowerforyou:

mea9

Bump

amerr

Bump

maab_connor

these are so great!

i already use white vinegar for laundry, it's dye and perfume free too, so even really sensitive skin can handle it.

another thing i do is DL fanfiction to my kindle - it's free to convert and then i'm not paying for ebooks.

the youtube converter sounds AWESOME!! also a good way to get the older stuff!

thanks guys!!

catlady100

I go to ereaderiq.com for free kindle books.

HotAndSpicy10

Bump

mommyoverboard

Rarely buy underwear for myself. I don't wear any with holes in them or anything, but I've had the same stuff for a LONG time LOL

plt55

YUK

christine24t

I do things to save money so that I can spend it elsewhere, like on clothes lol. I've never gone to get a manicure/pedicure. I do my own nails instead. I borrow outfits from people for special events instead of buying a shirt I'll only wear once. I'll wait 6 months for a book at the library instead of buying it.

coberleyc

I bought a "super savy saver card" from ebay for $15 it expires 2015 and I have already saved at least $300 at restaurants & i never buy online without googling a promo code lol.

thinnerisstronger

My wallet is stuffed with coupons for various items as well as store cards for stores I don't even have in my town. I never buy anything full price. Ever.
Being cheap is a good thing! It's like a game to me, hunting for the best deal.

GBO323

Wow, lots of good tips here. I'm going to make some laundry detergent when our current box starts to run out. The estimated money saved is amazing.

Some things I do to save money:

-Plan weekly menus and utilize recipes that require the same ingredients.

-I shop at Aldi or Walmart. Store brands are cheaper and the quality difference is minimal.

-Our office supplies coffee, so I don't do Starbucks. We have a Keuring at home with a strainer cup so I can buy ground coffee and make it by the cup instead of wasting alot on pot that might or might not get used.

-I ride a scooter for primary transportation. $10/week in gas saves me ~$250/month in gas and $1,000/year in reduced insurance premiums. Losing weight also means less gas needed to move me on the scooter. LOL!

-I shop online for competitive electric rates. My first venture into changing providers saved us about $80/month on our Lite Bill.

-Lunch is last night's leftovers. We cook enough (usually) to have leftovers to take for lunch. Usually after 3 days, the food isn't good. If we know it's gonna be awhile, we put it into a to-go kit and freeze it.

-Check out the local Dollar Stores. They carry household supplies and detergents there.

-Install water saving shower heads and throw a brick in the toilet reservoir. Will help cut down on water usage.

-Check the air pressure on your vehicle tires. Under-inflation requires more energy to move it.

-For my iPhone/iPad music, I'll check iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, or Google Music. A $1.29 song on iTunes might be on Amazon.com for .99. 4 songs is like buy 3, get one free this way!

-If you have a cell phone, consider shutting off your land line. We finally did it out of $$$ necessity and it never caused a problem not having it.

-Buy clothes at end of season. Check out outlet stores. Goodwill/Salvation Army stores are great for cheap clothes.

-Use MFP. It's much cheaper than Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem cause it is FREE, and for most of us, eating less food means we buy less food, thus saving money TWICE!

- Get a library card. This is CHEAP but last summer, I'd spend the hottest part of the day at the library. Take your laptop and check out & watch DVD movies, surf the net(free WIFI), read books, listen to music, or check out the latest magazines. I'd also use it as a mobile office and take care of bills and other things. My taxes pay for it, so I'm gonna use it!

-Even with me being cheap, er, I mean thrifty....sometimes you have to spend money on yourself as a treat because YOU need to remind YOURSELF that you are worth it.

-For homeowners, two things that will save alot of money: 1) Buy a programmable thermostat for the AC. Setting different temps in the day and night and for times you're not home/sleeping will slash that bill by 20%. 2) If you have an electric water heater, buy a timer for it. There are times of the day it's heating the water, yet no one's using it. I saved 10-15% when I started using mine.

GBO323

For the record, grabbing songs off of YouTube is considered Theft. As a friend to multiple "for profit" musicians, it does hurt them when people steal their music versus paying for it. Prior to caring about this, I did dabble in "free online music", but once I learned how it takes away money from those that earn their living from it(people with kids and family), I went back through and bought the music from the cheapest online music vendor(usually Amazon if iTunes wasn't having a promo special) so I could really sleep at night and support those artists that I liked their music enough to spend my hard earned money on.

Think about it this way. For those that work an hourly job, you need your 40 hours/week. What if you worked your 40 hours and your paycheck sometimes had 32 hours, 36 hours, or even 25? You'd want to know why you were being shorted for the hours you worked hard for.....so let's think about what is happening when we rip music from YouTube. It really is stealing and do you wanna risk the RIAA tagging YOU for an example? I sure don't.

So let's raise the bar on this one.

KayteeBear

I love being cheap. Not that I have much of a choice right now...

- I make my own laundry soap. I use liquid so I can use cold water. It really doesn't take too long. Heat water on stove, add soap shavings, fill 5 gallon pail half way with hot water, once soap is melted pour into 5 gal pail, add borax and washing soda, stir, fill bucket rest of the way. Put lid on and let sit overnight in a cold, dark corner. Stir next day then pour into containers. I reuse old laundry detergent bottles. It doesn't take much time at all. Especially not when it makes sooo much (the 5 gallon pail is concentrate so you end up with 10 gallons of diluted detergent and only have to use between 1/2-3/4 cup per load) Check google for recipes. Every recipe gives different amounts of soap/borax/washing soda. Try making smaller batches until you find what works best. Vinegar works great for a fabric softener if wish to use (I don't always add it to the rinse cycle and I don't notice much difference in clothes)

- I use a DivaCup instead of having to buy tampons and pads all the time (besides it being way comfier and better in sooo many ways, it always saves a crapload of money over time) want to make cloth pantyliners in the future (don't use pads, but sometimes pantyliners just in case i leak)

- Always buy cheap stuff...

- Almost never buy clothes brand new (and when I do it's always cheap anyway)

- Don't use shampoo (wash hair with conditioner and buy really cheap conditioner which I dilute to wash with)

- Make my own lotions/body butters

- Wash my face with homemade cold cream or honey

- Make own deodorant

- Use the internet for movies/tv shows/everything

- Walk as much as I can instead of driving

- Starting to play around with making my own baby wipes (don't have baby but I use them myself for ... everything)

- Stock up on toilet paper and such when on sale

- Use vinegar and baking soda for most cleaning and thinking of making an enzyme cleaner in the near future

- Sew a lot of clothes myself (and buy the bolt fabric bits from second hand stores)

- Turn cheap bar soap into liquid hand soap (or can be body wash)

- Cut and colour my hair myself (colour with henna as well so waaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than chemical dye)

- I also get eggs free from friends, meat from my dad's farm and potatoes from garden (boyfriend planted potatoes this last year but I want to plant my own garden with a lot this coming summer...or else I can get some from my grandma who usually plants as large garden...or friends' family who usually also have large garden)

I can't think of much else right now. Basically I just buy a lot of stuff cheap and I am IN LOVE with Dollarama and similar stores. And I make a lot/almost all of my body products and house cleaning products and try to make most of my food from scratch.

annabellj

Coupons, bulk buying and only buying in season. Manager's specials and day old markdowns, the clearance rack is my friend (with coupons). I love Farmer's Markets (go on the last day at the end of day and haggle).

Clothing furniture etc, reuse reuse reuse ... you can call it living green. I rare to never buy new. My house is full of antiques I found at thrift stores (you need to have an eye for this). The thrift stores here are really good, so the name brand clothing still has the tags on them. I boughts a $300 coat for $14 tags still on for instance. I have good china to eat off of, and henckle knives (retail value about $490, I paid $20), etc

I reuse what I can, aluminum foil, good baggies, but mostly use tupperware I bought from ... you guessed it. I also love yard sale season, and have been know to use lines to dry clothing. The more money I don't spend un-necessarily = more money in my bank account for a rainy day. I hold on to money and hate, hate , hate to give it up unless I love an item.

pretty much all of this, also cut and color my own hair, plus cut my families also, wash the dogs myself along with the charger( hey i figure i am burning a ton of calories lol), keep our vehicles for a minimum of ten years unitl some butthead comes along and rearends me because he was playing with his cell phone and not paying attention and totals my jeep that was paid off, grrrrrrrr. we pay off all our cards every month to avoid interest, make double payments to the car loan when we can, plant and grow our own garden every year, so not only do we get cheap veggies and fruits but we eat better produce without chemicals because of it. we dont use cable and only have netflix, my only splurge are my jeans which i can justify since i shop at goodwill on dollar days on thursdays. i have anne klein skirt, h and m shorts, black house white market blouse, and two leather jackets that i paid a dollar each for. i get my wedding gowns there also as they are usually only 20 or 30 bucks for my comicon costumes( think zombie bride,the white queen out of alice in wonderland) the list could go on as i shop there a lot and have a ton more stuff! it takes more time than shopping at the mall but so worth it for what i save. and i can shop everyweek if i want to. when i get tired of something i take it back in to donate it and then get a tax credit for donating it. its a win win. we rarely buy junk food as none of us needs it and it is very cost prohibitive. never take the kids to the store with otherwise they would want everything. i dont use windex at all, a wet diaper followed by a dry one works just as well. i try to use as little meat as possible in most meals as it is the most expensive item on our list. we vacation in arizona as it is cheaper than traveling out of state. the kids dont do sports but we do anime and comicons and make our own keyblades, costumes and swords. gets us out of the house, moving around and gives them time working with their dad.we have chickens so we always have fresh eggs and we trade veggies with mil of stuff she needs and stuff we need so it doesnt go to waste. we rarely go out to dinner anymore as it is not worth it. everytime we do i am disappointed with my meal and think i paid how much for this? my cooking tastes way better.

charlotte66

all great tips!

some things i do

plan my meals for the month (or every 2 weeks) the nite before shopping i go around every cupboard the fridge freezer and write it all down look what meals i can make then i only have to add a few things to my list to make more meals (this month i have done a whole food shopping for £40 for the month thats for me my partner and daughter not including baby milk and nappies for son)

reusable nappies a great thing! have used them with my daughter and now using he same ones for my son :happy: shame partner cant get to grips with them

veg thats odds and ends or maybe seen its best days ie carrots potatoes parsnips etc root veg even tomatoes and pepprs all gets put into one pan and made into a soup wizz it up and its delish my familys fav kind of soup!

feeding my dog, dog mince much cheaper than store bought dog food get it fromthe butchers for £2 for an 8lb bag which lasts almost a week were as store bought food almost a week of food is about £4 plus she has a sensitive tummy and most store dog food dosnt agree with her

i only add small packs of meat to my meals then bulk them out with veg beans pulses

try to have one or 2 meat free meals a week (usually were the soup comes in handy :laugh: )

have only bought the things i needed for my son i see/hear so many people going on about oh i bought so many outfits they didnt wear half of them such a waste!

prepare in advance for xmas and birthdays and always look out for the sales got my daughter her camera for xmas for £20 instead of rrp £59.99 oh yeah :bigsmile:


my partner is friends with a hairdresser so free hair cuts for myself and daughter i also colour my own hair

wash the dog no need to pay somone to do that

SaraTN

I prepare all my meals for a week or ten days in a day and package them in my fridge. I always try to prepare a variety - ie something with mexican flare, something mediterranian, something asian, something simple, something french -- (all my favorite foods) - so that when I am in the "mood" for something I have no excuse.

I buy wine by the case on discount days. :drinker:

I never pay full retail price for clothes. I do shop at TJ Maxx and I put stuff on lay-away to pick them up in a week or two... I usually end up putting a few things back because -- it helps me weed out the impulse buys. Consignment stores are also my friend.

I never skimp on my shoes -- running or everyday shoes.. but I do try to find them on sale or past-season.

I buy a lot of furniture off Craigslist.

This year, I got a seasonal job at Williams-Sonoma so I could get the discount on some pricey kitchen times that I wanted.

sassylilmama

Bought a bra in the girls section at Target. Convertible, pushup for $6. Only bright side to the girls shrinking.