What do you do to save money?

[blane,j,&morgansmom]

Im not sure if this has been actually put in a thread, so Im asking. We are a family of 5 people and 3 animals. We just moved and thought we were moving to save money...wrong. I am trying my hardest to minimize the outgoing money. Everything from the electric bill to food to household items. What is it that you do to save money?

I already:

Use cloth napkins, wipies
Make cleaners
Open the dishwasher for it to dry on its own (silly I know, but I figure every little bit helps)
Coupon when I can on what I need.
Make menus and shopping lists
Buy resale and not retail
Try to consolidate all my trips to town in one or two days a week - we live in the boonies.

Im trying to learn to bake from scratch, this is a work in progress. If you have any uber cheap recipes to feed 5 or recipes for cleaning stuff, please do share!!

[2+2macht4]

Line drying save a lot

[blane,j,&morgansmom]

I know line drying saves money...but my dh is spoiled and wants his clothes soft and squishy. boo

[dagmomma]

Energy efficient everything
Lights off all day long--when it gets dark only the ones in the room are on
going to start line drying
unplug everything
make own cleaners or get concentrated (mrs meyers)
Boost cell phones no house lines
have our paid off vehicles
buy clothes on sales with major discounts
cloth diaper.
one roll of paper towels for the month
hand me downs for the kiddos
menu plan and grocey lists

[2+2macht4]

If you add ecover t the wash they are soft o

[2+2macht4]

Also you could line dry part of the laundry and it would still save.

[Fashionably Green Baby]

Line dry then just pop in the dryer for a minute with dryer balls and good to go!

AFM:
If something can be reusable we have the reusable version. This includes:
unpaper towels
mama cloth
family cloth (only my husband uses TP)
cloth diapers
reusable swiffer pads

I use water, baking soda, and vinegar for cleaning....nothing else.

line dry

second hand clothes and we also are keeping clothing minimal now so we only buy a few pieces and at yard sale prices each kid can get a wardrobe for VERY cheap

lights off

I menu plan for the month and keep our grocery budget to $200 per month for the 5 of us. I make several things from scratch.

Oh also no poo and using dr bronners for soap and using dr bronners for hand soap saves money. we don't use lotion or many bath/body products.

I save money by making things myself really. All of our reusable products are ones I made and cooking at home and making things instead of prepackaged stuff or eating out really saves.

[dagmomma]

Wanted to add we have ceiling fans on all day long and do not turn on central air. It is in the 90s here but it is very cool in the house. If I use the oven I may pop the ac on or if it gets too hot. But then I turn it off when it gets to desired temp

[babylovinmama]

Originally Posted by Serenajean1 Also you could line dry part of the laundry and it would still save.

This. You could also save his laundry and do that once or twice a week in its own load to then dry after and wash the rest separately and line dry.

[OurAllenBaby]

Currently, I am trying not to leave the house more than needed. It helps save on gas and impulse purchases. I know every time I leave the house I spend more money!