Frugality!

Some things we do to save money are:

– Cut out chemical cleansers. We use dish soap and water, and water and vinegar for almost everything. We buy one bottle of multi-purpose method cleaner every 3 months or so, to use when we really need it.
– Cut out paper towels and paper napkins. I turn old clothes into rags. I’ve made awesome rags out of ripped flannel pajama pants… 4 ply, quilted (doesn’t have to be fancy, just done) and serged around the edges. You can buy one old table cloth at goodwill and make a bunch of cloth napkins from it, with minimal sewing required (especially if you have a serger).
– Dropped cable. You can stream a lot of things online. Torrenting is free, if your morality is questionable. There’s always local stations and Netflix as a cheaper alternative to cable/satellite.
– No home phone. This is pretty common these days. But cell phones are enough for us.
– Homemade laundry detergent. Works fine in HE and regular machines. 2 parts grated fels naptha laundry soap to 1 part each of borax and washing soda.
– Mending. Fixing zippers, coat linings, sewing on buttons, hemming pants, all these things are cheaper than buying new clothes.
– Shop 2nd hand. There’s no reason to buy new for many, many things. You can use eBay, craigslist, goodwill, garage sales, etc.  Don’t fall into the trap of buying brand new things for small children. The novelty is that it’s new to them; it doesn’t have to be new in general. If you keep your kids away from commercials they won’t even know what to ask for.
– Drink at home. Princess doesn’t drink, but I do. But I do not order drinks out, since it’s so much more expensive than drinking at home.
– Bagged lunches. Princess brings his lunch from home every day.

– Reusable containers.  More of an investment, but cheaper and more environmentally friendly in the long run than using disposables.  You can make your own lunch bags and market bags, too. 🙂
– Coffee at home. We have a Keurig. We never go to coffee shops anymore.
– Handmade items. Crafting is not always cheaper, but it can be. I buy a lot of yarn, fabric and notions from garage sales.

– When we find something we really want,  we make sure we shop around and get the best deal.  Denying yourself things constantly can make it harder to keep up frugality in the long run.  An very occasional splurge, when planned for responsibly, is totally fine.

– We think long and hard about what we WANT vs what we NEED.  We need pants, but do we need 10 pairs?  Little things like that.