Thursday, September 23, 2010

5 Things You Can Stop Buying and Not Miss

I recently read an article on a similar idea and so I got to thinking about what I no longer buy, or rarely buy anymore, both to save money and to try to be a little more "green."  I encourage you to come up with your own list, you may be surprised at how much money you can save over time by cutting out certain items.

1.  Bottled water.  Not that I don't drink water in a bottle, I just don't buy it at the store.  In the past I have bought a case (on sale) to keep on hand (I have some in the garage for "emergencies") but we save the bottles, wash them and refill them with, yes, tap water.  I also have some nicer reusable bottles that we use regularly but I always have about a half dozen of the disposable kind in the fridge, ready to grab as we run out the door.  If you can't stand the taste of your local water, invest in a filtered pitcher to keep in your refrigerator; we have a Pur one that we refill several times a day.  (My family drinks a lot of water, which saves on money...more on that later.)

2.  Paper Towels/Paper Napkins.  This is not something that I don't buy, I have just drastically reduced my use of paper products.  I still buy paper towels but maybe go through a roll a month, and with kids I need paper napkins, especially since I have to pack one in their school lunches each day.  But what I use instead when I can are cheap washcloths from the Dollar store, and since they come in all colors you can even color code them for various uses.  For example, I use the pastel ones to wipe faces, highchairs, counters and dinner messes, the dark purple ones have become cleaning cloths to wipe the floor.  Then I soak them all in a tub before doing laundry, so that they do not get sour and stinky between washes.  If you have a big stack of them you can use them just once before getting out a new one, so that helps to keep things sanitary.  They don't take up much room in the wash.  Now, if the dog makes a mess or something like that you better believe I get out the paper towels!  Another great item is microfiber cloths, they are great for dusting, work with a Swiffer instead of the store-bought pads, and usually last a long time.

3.  Plastic Baggies/Trashbags.  This is another item I still buy, but use much less often.  For school lunches I use plastic reusable containers with lids when I can, but I still keep some cheap baggies for some small items, or when I cannot fit all the containers in the lunchbox.  I reuse all of my big ziploc bags unless they had raw meat in them.  (The only exception is that I have larger ziploc bags that hold the smaller, individual meal sized chunks of raw meat that I freeze in freezer bags, those I label and reuse.)  I hardly ever buy the ziploc bags in the first place because my mother in law is wonderful about sending us home with a lot of leftovers whenever we come over for dinner, so sometimes the bags have only held dinner rolls.  We do also have to buy trashbags, but we make sure they are stuffed full before we put them out.  We save all of our grocery store bags, use them to line the bathroom/bedroom trashcans, but we also save the bigger shopping bags, some of which are large enough to hold the weekly trash and save a trashbag.  We are limited to 2 big bags a week and usually only put out one, otherwise I would love to be able to put out 10 little grocery store sacks (but I bet that's against the rules and we would get fined!).  Ziploc bags also really come in handy for organizing other things around the house (toys!) and trashbags are great for safely storing bigger things (like an unused car seat), so they are things that I always keep on hand, I just try not to waste them.

4.  Fabric Softener Sheets.   This is the kind of thing that I just ran out of and didn't buy for a while, then discovered I didn't miss them.   I do like them for reducing static in the winter, but otherwise I don't really see a difference.  If you insist on using fabric softener, I saw this tip online somewhere:  Empty a bottle of fabric softener in a tub and mix with twice as much water, cut in half cheap sponges and soak in solution.  When you put clothes in the dryer, wring out a sponge and throw it in.  This is supposed to double the number of uses per bottle.  Sounds like too much trouble to me...

5.  Cleaning Products  Of course, I do not mean ALL cleaning products, but you really don't need to buy that many.  I regularly purchase dishwashing soap, dw detergent, laundry detergent and toilet bowl cleaner, but I have tried my hand at using things like vinegar and baking soda for cleaning purposes.  Those "recipes" and tips are easy to find so I won't repeat them all here, but I have found them good for some uses, not so effective for others.  For example, I gave up on trying to clean a really dirty shower without busting out the Tilex.  And I get a lot of free samples in the mail for cleaning products, especially laundry detergent, so those help stretch the budget (see previous post for freebies).  Another thing  really like are Clorox or Lysol wipes, they come in handy for quickie bathroom cleaning, especially when company is coming, or for wiping down the house after sickness has been present (like wiping doorknobs and keyboards and the like).  Sometimes it pays to pay for convenience!

Coming soon:  Some other things you could probably cut out of your budget that you probably won't miss.

1 comment:

  1. Great post. Cameron takes one of our cloth napkins everyday in his lunch. I also use reusable containers instead of baggies!

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