Have a tip that saves you time, money or both? Post it here!


Here's my most recent trick:

It's been HOT HOT HOT here lately so we've been freezing water bottles and placing them in front of our fans during the hottest time of day. Works great!

Clever!

I've been pre-ordering the books I want to read at the library. It's like I bought them because I get to just pick them up and read them right away rather than searching the whole library. So I save a ton of money by not buying them. And it also means I just walk in, grab them from the shelf, and checkout. We're done without me having to stress myself sick about the kids being rowdy and spending all day because everyone wants a turn on the computer, etc.

If only I could do it with groceries. It's my fantasy.

Kerri

i don't think i've come up with anything too clever lately, but what am i doing to be frugal lately? hmmm

i have a playgroup with 7 babies that turn(ed) 1 within 2 months. ds was the first one and everyone brought a present to that playgroup despite my telling them not to. so i bought 10 finger puppets at ikea for cheap and divided them all up and wrapped them in tissue and gave them as gifts. that ended up being so cheap!

keeping the air at 78 and running a fan when i feel hot.

i LOVE dessert. makes me spend more $$ at the grocery, but i've been finding some yummy stuff on the bakery clearance (gotta sell quickly) rack, and it has all been fresh...and so cheap!

looking for gifts at thrift/yard sales/amity mamas

taking my mom up on her invitation to dinner about once a week. other benefits there too, but it does save me money (and energy) as well...lol!

like i said, nothing clever really. i do other things subconsciously, i'm sure, but this is on the front of my mind.

My latest - greatest? -

*this may be a "duh" type thing, but I have been checking the weather and doing laundry accordingly to avoid having to use the dryer. Also noticed that everyone here has hooks and clothesline strung up on their porch so you can dry even in the rain. I want to do that! But for now I am making sure to hang before it thunders, or just not having to wash on rainy days.

*For meals - we did a "meal pool." So we made lists - breakfast lunch and dinner pools. Pool=list of meals we would like to eat. Shopped off the list so we could have all the ingredients on hand. Each day we just pick something off the list. We made a list for Katie so that if she doesn't like what everyone's having she can choose an "alternate" that she can prepare herself. It has helped us eat meals together more often and also ironically expanded Katie's selection of foods. It's a bit different than "meal planning" and more flexible for us - I can't go by a schedule for meals, we just end up not following it at all then.

*Obvious, perhaps? Keep a running list of things you need - dish soap, laundry soap, rice, whatever. Keep it on the fridge, add to it, grab it whenever you go out for another reason to save trips to the grocery store.

*For books we have scheduled a weekly library visit. Keep library books/videos in a basket in the living room for easy gathering to return. We go to the library when we are already going to town for another reason to save gas.

*That's been the MO of the summer - combine trips to save gas. Plan ahead. Have an appt in town? Great time to grocery shop, after your appt! Etc.

Ummm...Does this count? Last night I accidentally dumped my quart jar of icewater on my bedroom floor. I had swiffered in there earlier, and was hoping to damp mop it today, so I grabbed a dirty towel out of the bathroom and damp mopped the whole bedroom with my spilled water. :smirk:

I have convinced DH that the thermostat doesn't need to be so low.

I pay nearly all of our bills online now, through my bank. I can enter "multiple payments" where it lists all of the payees, and I can just enter the numbers and hit one button to enter all of them! Saves me time and stamps!

I have decluttered quite a bit this summer, so my house is a bit easier to keep clean.

I do a quick "swish and swipe"(a la flylady) in the bathroom at least once a day, and that keeps the bathroom pretty clean.

I have been ordering from my co-op twice a month, but in the fall when I'm working again (and have more money on hand), I hope to have things planned so that I can order once a month to save on trips (it's not far, but it's time spent--usually half an hour at the least). Plus, if my orders are big enough, I think I might save some money (she charges less the more ordered). I need to do the same with grocery trips.

Trying to get cooking again--starting by keeping the kitchen clean, and working on meal plans, snacks, etc. Trying to bake at least once a week in the mornings because it's hot here. Today's the day for me to do that, so I need to get to it!

Good ideas mamas! Keep them coming! I can't say I have done anything super frugal lately. Oh! I did get rid of the long distence on my house phone. We are going to use calling cards from sams club instead, and it saved me about 50.00 a month :cuc: That I can put towards the snowball :) This is so much fun when you get started!

ds is cuddled up in my lap so sorry if there are typos.

We're selling our van. We've waffled over it for awhile and finally decided to do it. We were planning to pay it off in the next couple of months but the thing is it's too big for our family, gets awful gas mileage and it's just not a good vehicle for us. We'll take the money that we "make" on it and put it towards savings and having routine maintenance done on our other vehicle. This will save us the monthly payment and car insurance costs, as well as $143 in Dec when we have to renew/change license plates to the state we're moving to.

We've been going to yard sales and thrift stores to find clothes for the kids. I'm picky about clothes but I've found some really awesome things at really good prices. Yesterday I picked up a Charlie Rocket shirt and a Kitestrings shirt for 75 cents each. I clean the clothes and place them in bins marked with whatever size the item is. I've kept a list of what I need and what I don't need so that I don't overbuy. The kids have just enough clothes, KWIM? Not tons of items spread willy-nilly. This also helps because we're moving to a tiny house with tiny closets (the kids clothes hang up mostly).

I've learned to use Craig's List and Freecycle. :) We've stopped procrastinating on eBay items and listed lots of things lately.

We're paying all of our bills online, even one that the bank mails the check to the place. Saves stamps for us.

I made salsa from our prolific tomatoes and then I canned it. :happy:

There's more but my time online is limited. :)