Frugal Tips You Can Use Right Now!

September 27, 2007 · Filed Under · 13 Comments 

Drink WaterIn an effort to continue to pass along frugal tips that will help you save money, I have comprised this list of 10 easy things you can institute right now:

 

 

  1. Order water only. One of the healthiest things you can do is drink a lot of water. So at restaurants skip the $2 soda and order water only. You can save a lot of money and do something good for your body. I have been doing this for over a year and I also ask for a lemon wedge, I actually prefer this drink now. Very refreshing!
  2. Buy only what you will reasonable use over a 6 month period of time. Just because it is on sale does not mean you should buy 10 of them. If it went on sale once, it will go on sale again.
  3. Use cloth diapers instead of disposables. My wife and I did this with our first child and we saved a ton of money! Believe it or not it is not that much more work. Heck, you will be doing a lot of laundry anyways. Here is a link to make your own diaper wipes as well.
  4. Swap maternity and baby clothing that you don’t need with friends. My wife does this with a couple girlfriends and it is a great way to help each other out.
  5. Call your Electric Company and ask for an inspection. My neighbor did this and had his home inspected, they found his home’s air conditioning ducts had a bunch of leaks in them and they actually fixed them. He had to pay for the repairs up front, but PG&E (our electric company) gave him a big rebate to pay for the fix. Pretty cool, literally!
  6. Use both sides of your computer paper. If you are like me, you print out a lot of blogs and other articles for reading. Don’t recycle the paper when done, instead use the other side for further printing, then recycle it.
  7. Learn to do-it-yourself. A few years ago I picked up the Reader’s Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual and it is great! Easy to follow directions with clear pictures for dummies like me. Covers everything from inside your home to outside stuff. A great reference that can save you a ton of money by not having to call in outside help. You can pick it up slightly used for around $8-10 at Amazon.com.
  8. Buy some things used. Buy sporting goods for you and the kids at places like ‘Play It Again Sports’ and shop yard sales for kids toys and clothing that will outgrow quickly anyways.
  9. Shop without the kids and spouse. When possible, shop alone! You will stay focused on what you are there to buy and will not get distracted. Have the mindset of “Get in and get out”, it is not suppose to be fun! My wife and I do this, and we find that we buy less crap this way.
  10. Go vegetarian a couple days a week. By doing this you will save money on expensive meats. Substitute meats with fresh fruit, vegtebles, salads, and tortilla wraps. I love wraps, here are some yummy recipes that won’t break the bank.

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Comments

13 Responses to “Frugal Tips You Can Use Right Now!”

  1. Tish on September 27th, 2007 9:15 am

    Wow. Great tips, Kyle!

    I’m not a parent, but I believe that I’d rather pay too much money for disposable diapers than wash the cloth ones! Ewww.

    I love saving money, though, and the other tips will come in handy!

    By the way, I plan on reviewing your site for BlogsWeLuv. I’ll let you know when the review is up!

  2. Kyle on September 27th, 2007 10:15 am

    Tish, yeah, I would wear latex gloves when I had diaper duty, would have wore a hazmat suit if I could have found one!

    Awesome! Looking forward to my blog review! Please take it easy on me…..

  3. Fabulously Broke on September 28th, 2007 3:45 pm

    #1 about drinking water
    #6 about using both sides of the paper
    #8 about buying used things

    Are things I do on a regular basis… esp the water bit. I hate knowing I’m paying $2.95 for a GLASS of iced tea when it only costs $1.00 in the store to buy.. and even LESS to make it at home with the powder. Ugh.

  4. Tish on October 1st, 2007 10:29 pm

    Haha! The HazMat suit is awesome!

    Here are a couple of ways that I manage to save money.

    1. I pay all bills electronically through my bank’s online banking system. It eliminates the need for stamps. At .41 each, you can save several dollars per month!
    2. I live in the county, and garbage pickup is not included in our taxes. If we want garbage pickup, we have to pay $300 per year. I haul off my own garbage each Saturday. Fortunately, I’m only a couple of minutes from the county dump.

  5. Kyle on October 2nd, 2007 7:31 am

    Great tip on paying your bills online, not only do you save on stamps but also save time.

    Also, smart way of looking at the garbage expense. $300 for the year is harder to swallow than saying to yourself it only costs $25 per month.

  6. xantun on October 5th, 2007 7:25 am

    Why even print out to read blogs just read it from computer. That’s how you save.
    This is spending not saving.

  7. Kyle on October 5th, 2007 7:45 am

    @ Xantun – I often will print out stuff that I want to read when I am away from the computer on biz or vacation. Otherwise, I agree with you.

  8. mom2fur on October 6th, 2007 7:19 am

    I like the idea of only buying what you’ll use in 6 months. I keep a ‘well stocked pantry,’ as well as personal items closet. I might have 2 jars of mayo, but we use it a lot…and I’d rather reach for the jar I bought at 99 cents than have to rush out to buy a 3.49 jar, LOL! Also, I recently did an inventory of the personal stuff closet and vowed I’m not buying toothpaste for a long, long time. No matter how cheap I can get it, LOL! Even with 7 people living here, there’s enough to last us until early next year.

  9. jatoha on October 12th, 2007 6:39 am

    I did clothe diapers with all three of my kids and I swear it is not hard. I am a very lazy person, too. You never run out of diapers–no running to the store at the last minute. You have to haul bags of diapers out to the garbage–no different than taking them down to the laundry room. I used flushable diaper liners (they look like a sheet of toilet paper) which made dumping the doo-doo in the toilet a breeze. (sorry, prolly 2 much info, huh?)

  10. Kandy on October 14th, 2007 1:30 pm

    Great tips!

    I used cloth diapers with my third child, and once I got the hang of it and learned how to “strip” the diapers, they worked just as great, she almost NEVER had diaper rash, the doctor approved, and aside from the initial up-front investment, we really did save money. The “eww” factor really wasn’t much of a factor either…just don’t look when you flip it into the toilet LOL. And baking soda is your friend :)

  11. Kyle on October 16th, 2007 8:35 am

    Kandy, thanks for the comment! What does it mean to “strip” the diapers? Not familiar with that smelly term. ;-)

  12. H on October 24th, 2007 1:42 am

    I’m forty five and tried cloth diapers with my first child who is now 24. The only problem is that I had no washing machine. I washed those diapers out by hand in the bathtub for what seems like forever; and a blink of the eye at the same time. I worked full time at night while my husband watched the kid. Glad to see that there are still people out there that care enough to see the big picture. IT’S NOT THAT HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  13. lucy mauro on March 11th, 2009 11:45 am

    Folks, My kids are 45 and 41, and in those days there were no paper diapers, only cloth, so no one gave it a second thought. My two never had diaper rash.

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