How to be cheesy (cheap and easy)

My partner and I are the weird money saving types as well! That being said, we do okay for ourselves, and now we're on a path to early retirement.

If you haven't heard of it, you might like this blog. Mr. Money Mustache

We disregard a lot of the real estate and investing tips, as we're in Canada and the options are vastly different; but when we first came upon it a few years ago, it helped us save a ton of money with allof the little tips. There is also a forum there where other cheap people discuss saving money.

A big way we saved money this year was by being greedy with our garden last year. In years past we shared the bounty, so to say. We love giving away fresh vegetables. Last year we decided to preserve and freeze whatever we brought in on any given day. We purchased a Foodsaver second hand, and did up big bags of frozen veggies. We even made our own French fries, and double servings of mashed potatoes. So my tip is, use whatever space you might have to grow your own food!

I recommend oil over butter for pans but that's just me...I don't like how butter changes the flavor.

Carefull with aluminum, it tend to mix with foods when heated over 300 degrees and if you eat in an aluminum plate, use plastic ustensils so you don't scrap off the metal and ingest it.

Things we do in our home to "pinch pennies":

- We have a veggie garden and blackberry/raspberry bushes... so I do a lot of canning/preserving throughout the summer and fall months.

- We also buy our meat in bulk from a local butcher and then I cut it up and package it myself for the freezer (ie: buying a full-sized half cow instead of buying meats already cut up and packaged). We even buy hamburger in large 20lb bags. That alone has saved us literally hundreds of dollars over the past 5 years since we've been doing it that way. When you buy meats from the grocery store, you're paying the hidden costs of someone else cutting up the meat and packaging everything in individual quantities. Be your own butcher !

- Cut up old t-shirts and use them as your cleaning rags. Not only does it recycle old ratty clothes and save money, but the t-shirt material is bloody awesome for using as cleaning rags... no lint or fibers left behind on surfaces.

- Wash and reuse Ziploc sandwich/freezer bags

- Wash and reuse plastic or glass containers/jars that store bought foods come in (ice cream pails are the bestest invention ever !)



I also make a lot of everyday household stuff from scratch... it not only saves a ton of money, but it's also way better for your own health and the health of the environment. Here's a few recipes I've been using for years:


Windex ? Pfft...

1 part white vinegar
1 part water

Pour into a spray bottle and shake until well mixed. To clean your windows, use a crumpled up old newspaper instead of paper towels or cloth. It's a good way to use up those stupid flyers you get in the mail. Streak free, lint free, squeaky clean windows ! Vinegar and water (or lemon juice and water) also makes for a super simple basic spray cleaner for around the house.


All Purpose Anti-bacterial Spray Cleaner:

This recipe will give you about one gallon of cleaner. Just pour some into a spray bottle for ready-to-use-ability.

2 cups rubbing alcohol
1 tablespoon liquid dishsoap
1 tablespoon household ammonia
1 tablespoon white vinegar (or lemon juice)
14 cups of warm water


Febreze:

2 cups liquid laundry fabric softener
1 cup baking soda
4 cups warm water

Dissolve the baking soda in water, add fabric softener, mix well. Pour into a spray bottle, use as you would Febreze. You will get a few bottles from this recipe for less than half the cost. And yes, it works exactly like Febreze... deodorizing and safe on all fabrics.


Comet (powder cleanser):

1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup Borax powder

Mix together and voila ! You have your own super cheap abrasive powder cleanser for those stubborn tub and toilet stains. Pour into a container with a lid if you want to make a large batch to keep around.


Fabric Softener:

6 cups of water
15oz bottle of any "cheapo" hair conditioner
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
20-or-so drops of essential oil for fragrance [optional]

Whisk together all ingredients. Pour into an empty fabric softener bottle or plastic gallon milk jug for easy use.


DIY Dryer Sheets:

1 part fabric softener
1 part water

Mix together in a large plastic container with a lid. Cut up an old t-shirt (or just use clean old socks - now you know what to do with those mismatched "onesies" that get lost in the dryer) and toss them into the container, put the lid on, and that's it.

When you’re ready to use, pull out a sheet/sock & wring it out good. Then just throw it into the dryer with your wet clothes & run the dryer as normal. Once your clothes are dry, throw the sheet/sock back in the container for the next time.

Static free clothes that smell purdy too (for pennies on the dollar) !


Wood Furniture Polish:

Fill a spray bottle with unscented baby oil, add 5-10 drops of lemon or orange essential oil (optional) and voila ! Furniture polish. Baby oil is preferable because it doesn't leave an oily residue on the wood furniture, just a nice clean sheen.


Liquid Laundry Soap:

This stuff works just as good as any store bought brand and it will literally cost you no more than about $5-6 to make a large 5-gallon pail of concentrated laundry soap. This 5-gallon pail will last in a 2-person home about one year or longer !

- 1 bar of Fels-Naptha brand bar soap, or Zote brand bar soap, or 2 Ivory Laundry Soap bars (not the bath bar Ivory soap) – it must be a pure bar soap without all those added chemicals. These soaps are usually found in the laundry aisle.

- 1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda is the most common brand found in the store)
- 1 cup Borax powder

To be honest... those 3 ingredients are the same ingredients you'll find in any commercially made laundry soap without all the extra added chemicals.

Grate the bar of soap. Add the grated soap to 4 cups of hot water in a large pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until soap is completely dissolved and melted. Grating it helps to dissolve faster.

Fill a 5 gallon plastic pail halfway with hot tap water, add melted soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir until dissolved. Fill bucket the rest of the way with hot tap water. And stir to mix once again.

Cover with lid and allow to set overnight. In the morning, stir and fill an old, cleaned laundry soap container jug (or milk jugs work too) half full with soap, then fill the rest of the way with water (aka – equal parts concentrated soap and water to actually use it in your laundry). By pouring it into a smaller container, it makes it easier to keep on hand for using in your laundry. Stir or shake well.

You can add 10 to 15 drops of essential oils into your smaller usage container if you want it scented. (Or 20 to 30 drops in the 5 gallon bucket of concentrated soap).


Anti-Freeze Windshield Washer Fluid (methanol free):

Store-bought commercial windshield washer fluid contains methanol. Methanol is extremely poisonous and dangerous to breathe or touch. Less than a half of a teaspoon can cause blindness and less that two ounces can kill a person. Not to mention how bad it is for the environment.

10 cups of water
1 tablespoon liquid dish soap
3 cups rubbing alcohol

Rubbing alcohol is where the "antifreeze" part comes in. You can even add a few drops of blue food colouring if you want it to look all blue and purdy like the store bought stuff.

Shake this all up in a jug until the dishsoap is completely dissolved, and then let the bubbles go down and pour into your windshield washer fluid canister to the fill line. You can also make a larger batch of this stuff and pour into a few plastic jugs for ready-use to carry in your trunk.



Making your own household cleaners etc can easily cut the costs of your grocery bill down by 1/3 or more !

originally posted by: eisegesis
Don't forget Soylent!

The quickest, laziest way to eat.

What if you never had to worry about food again?

LOL!!!

Great suggestions so far, thanks everybody.

That stuff is spendy; DIY soylent is much cheaper

People Chow

a reply to: eisegesis


When you peel your oranges, save the peels. Boil them in some water with cloves and cinnamon. It makes a great potpourri to make your house smell good and saves on aerosol sprays. I do this especially at holidays. I also like to take large oranges and stud them with cloves, then wrap them with decorative ribbon, red or green for Christmas, yellow or red for Fall, etc..., then hang them from a nail in a room as a potpourri decoration to make a room smell nice, once it starts to whither, remove the ribbon, slice it up, and boil it in a pot.

originally posted by: Night Star
Dollar stores! They are not all the same. There is one that even has food items and good stuff too.
Discount stores for most things that I buy and second hand stores. All my books are second hand. Luckily I can do all kinds of craftwork and often make things for gifts if I don't find enough at the discount stores. My name brand laundry detergent is never more than a few bucks at the discount stores. Use coupons when you can even at restaurants.

Always take advantage of the buy one get one free deals. When something is on sale at the grocery store and I also have a coupon for that item, that's when I'll get it.

If you can, take advantage of stores that offer buy one get two free. Every now and then, you get lucky! Also, watch for specials running in your areas. Most stores will offer competitive pricing if you bring the circular with you and can prove the price the other store is offering. Say for example, you're at Target looking at a Samsung 13" TV for $79, but Walmart is offering it for $68. If you show Target the Walmart circular, chances are Target will sell it to you for the Walmart Price. Some stores also offer double coupons as long as they are under $.99. Grab that opportunity when it comes up! I got $300 worth of groceries for $69 using double coupons and store comparisons. It was my best shopping and I've never had a repeat! It's rare to find double coupons now because of those stupid coupon reality shows.