Money Saving Tip #4

Cut Back On Paper Products!

This is a simple tip, but one we often overlook in favor of convenience. I have been trying to cut back on paper products which isn't too hard. We don't use very many paper products.  But you can only cut back on toilet paper so much before people start to complaing LOL. I know paper products are convenient, but YOU DON'T NEED THEM!
I ran out of paper plates a while ago and haven't had any money to buy more, and WE HAVE SURVIVED! Same goes with paper towels. I did buy some cheap ones but hate them! I use them for cleaning only now. If you do use paper towles ( no judgment...) try putting them in a cupboard where you can't see them and you will use less!

Quit buying paper napkins and use linen ones instead. I bought myself enough fabric to make 2 dozen napkins for less then $8!!! ( I had a coupon) Thats pretty darn cheap! Those napkins will last me a LONG time! (Tutorial to come!) 

Crayola makes this great finger painting paper that we love to use, but it is spendy. Once I run out, I think I'm going to go back to doing painting on paper bags. I shop at Winco and their paper bags are not the best (or maybe its my lack of bagging skills) and I cant reuse them for shopping. So I just cut them apart and Sister Bear paints on them. Works great!

If I make a mistake when I print something from the computer, I save my paper until I have a good stack. Then I cut the paper into note size pieces and staple them together and bada bing bada boom I have a note pad!

Another option is using decorated paper bags or newspaper and use it for wrapping presents.  Grandparents really like this one.

I never buy envelopes! I still receive paper bills, but I pay everything online. When ever I receive a bill, I save the envelopes and reuse them. Thoes pesky credit card offers will also come with an envelope too, cause they are really hoping you will sign up. I save thoes too!

So these are a few of the ways that I save on paper products! If you have anything to add to the list let me know! 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week! 

 

Money Saving Tip #3!

Welcome back to Money Saving Mondays!

Todays topic is... TAKE SHORTER SHOWERS! 
Ah long hot showers... I forgot what those feel like lol. It never fails that I get one asleep and I jump in the shower, the other one needs me! (Meaning my lovely children)  Frustrating! I use to be able to shave my legs and actually wash my hair, and now I'm lucky to throw some soap on. The things we give up when we become parents... :) 

 OK, so one way to save money is to take shorter showers. This may seem like a duh! thing or something you think about doing but just never do. It is a very simple way to help the environment and save you money. It won't save you load of money right away, but if you were able to track it, I'm sure you would see a huge savings over your lifetime. Its a good thing they invented this amazing thing called Google! I type in what I'm looking for a bada bing bada boom! I have all the answers without having to do any math. Gotta love Google!
 
This guys explains everything! CLICK HERE! I'm way to lazy to do all the math :-) but I didn't have to.You seriously need to read his thing because its very convincing. Hop on over! But don't forget to come back! 
Waiting...

 Waiting...

  Waiting... 
 
Did you go? Good, I'm glad your back!
 
I'm not saying you need to take 2 min showers, just reduce your shower time by a min or 2. The link I posted above shows you how much money you can save by cutting back 1 minute, 2 minutes, up to 5 minutes. So get a timer ( don't tell me you don't have one, every phone has one!) and time your showers for a few days and figure out about how long they are. Me.. I would love to have 30 min showers again lol! If you average 15 minutes, try cutting back to 13 minutes for a week. You can do this by setting an alarm to go off in 12 minutes, then finish what you are doing and get out. By the time you get out it will probably be 13 minutes.Then cut back to 10 minutes and you have just saved yourself $9!!! (in a year of course, but you would know that if you went to the link above :)

Try it! I dare you! Its not that hard and it will make a difference!

Now go save the earth! The Power is yours!! 

 (Captain planet... lol remember them ? Ok, I'm sure I just showed my age.)

Let me know if you do it! Thanks for joining me on my Money Saving Mondays!!!

Money Saving Tip #2!

CUT DRYER SHEETS IN HALF

This is going to be a quick one because it's pretty straight forward. I have to credit my mother in law for teaching me this simple trick. THANKS!
 
When I get my box, I sit down with some scissors and a basket ( from The Dollar Tree) and cut them all in half.  It ddoesn't take long trust me,  and you can cut quite at a time. Then they go in the basket to go on the shelf above my washer.

Most people use dryer sheets and they are not that expensive, but over a lifetime that cost will add up! A box of 160 Bounce dryer sheets go for $6.84. Now that box will only last you 160 loads, but if you cut them in half it will last you 320 loads! They work just the same! 
Now for really small loads, like just the kids blankies, I will even cut them in half again. So then I'm only using 1/4 of a dryer sheet! Simply awesomeness!

Just think, if you live alone and always do small loads, using 1/4 of a sheet would be enough! You could make one box of 160 sheet last you 640 loads! That's over a year and a half's worth of dryer sheets if you do one load a day!

So cut those suckers in half and only buy them once a year. Maybe even ask for some for Christmas and then they are free! 

Go save some money!

I hope you are enjoying my money saving tips, and I will have another one for you next Monday. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, there is this cute little box just below where you can leave me a note! Thanks :-)

 

Money Saving Monday! Tip #1

Welcome everyone to my first Money Saving Monday tip!

I LOVE to spend money. It doesn't matter if it is on groceries, clothes, crafts.... Anything. But to have money to spend, I have to first save it. Which to be honest MOST of us suck at. No? Not you? Ah come - on... Be honest. OK well maybe it is just me that isn't good at saving money.

Well I have been doing as much as I can around the house to help us save some money. Most of it is little things, but every little bit helps right?

OK so here is it, Tip#1!

LABEL YOUR LEFTOVERS!

Sounds so simple, and it is! When you pull leftovers out of the fridge, your first thought is, "When did I cook this...?" If you don't know the answer to that question, chances are you put it back (in the very back in a corner) until it turns into a science experiment. 

Throwing it away = throwing away MONEY! 

Grab yourself a roll of masking tape or painters tape and a sharpie. 

Ta-Da!

Keep them near your Tupperware and when you package up your left overs, slap some tape on the lid and write the date! SIMPLE, CHEAP AND EASY! My favorite way to save money lol. The tape will even stay on your lids when running them through the dishwasher... That means you can reuse the tape! Genius!

I just write the month and day

Enjoy guys! This tip is courtesy of my grandma. So THANK YOU Grandma!

Does anyone else out there label their left overs?? If so I'd love to see your method.