Here are mine:
- I gave up meat for Lent and ended up saving more than $100 because of it. Three cheers for broccoli!
- I hoard gifts through the year so that I don’t have to spend as much at Christmas. One of these days that brand new CamelPak is going to be the puuurrfect gift.
- I wash and reuse plastic bags (unless they had meat in them).
What about you?
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:11 am
Similar to your sacrifice, we gave up all soft drinks which saved us a ton of money over the last few weeks. I have plenty of green tea bags left over from cold and flu season and am making good use of them now by making healthy iced tea at home rather than the bottled or powdered stuff. That one dollar box of tea from our local dollar sure goes a long way!
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:13 am
I, too, reuse plastic bags (and also) aluminum foil. One weird thing that I have done is I have reused my vacuum cleaner bag! I simply pulled all the dirt and animal hair out through the little hole and plugged the bag back into the vacuum for another go-round!
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 am
Good idea, Julia Woods, I’m going to re-use my vacuum cleaner bags too>
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Wow, I never considered re-using my vacuum bags?! And I just threw one out last week.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
My mother taught me the trick of reusing the vacuum bags. While I only do this in emergencies, with the cost of bags these days, I may do it regularly. But, I suggest wearing a mask when you do this, and be sure to empty them outside!
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:49 am
When you clean your Vac bags be sure to do outside away from the house or you will be cleaning up the mess
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
When doing colored laundry, if the clothes are not filthy I use only the rinse cycle only and add 2 cups of vinegar- no detergent. This cleans them and leaves them fresh smelling. Once every 3 weeks I run the clothes through the full wash cycle with soap.
I save electricity, water, detergent and the clothes last A LOT longer.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I’ve been cutting my own hair for the past 15 months. And I’m not bald, I have a full head of hair. My hair is thick enough where I can comb over little mistakes, and I just trim a little at a time once a week so the change isn’t noticeable.
My mom is the thriftiest person I know. She saves and washes take-out containers so she can use them to pack leftovers for us to bring home when we visit for dinner.
One of the most unusual thing she does, though, is to save the bags from cereal boxes and use them when she microwaves food. She sticks her food in a bowl and then places the bowl in the bag, using the bag instead of Saran wrap to keep the moisture in.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Ron, your Mom is extremely frugal! I suppose you could also re-use the cereal bags and maybe even find a use for the cardboard boxes. I’d like to curly own hair but am not sure where to start. Hmmm…perhaps a blog post is in order!
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Uh O! I think Ron’s mom and I are long lost cousins! I reuse the plastic bags inside cereal boxes as separater sheets between frozen beef and bean patties. I use the outside of the box as a mailer for cds, press kits and promo stuff. Nothing from a cereal box ends up in the recycling or the trash.
My vacuum has a plastic cylinder and filter so no trash bags for me!
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I figured I wasn’t the only frugal one out here, and this posting has proved me right! I hadn’t thought about using the cereal bags, but will do so in future. Ditto reusing vac bags, as the ones I need are really hard to find these days. Washing and reusing foil and plastic bags is something I learned from my late friend, Gladys, who lived to within 2 months of her 100th b’day, and was frugal out of necessity. BTW ~ Keep your eye on the bargain meats at Pavilions… many great buys!
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I use the cardboard from old cereal boxes for craft projects. : )
April 6th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I cut out the front of the cereal boxes and make cheap puzzles. I love the tip on reusing the vacuum cleaner bags!