Frugal Ideas

Here you can show each other ways to save money on pretty much anything. Feel free to put up links as well as your ideas.

35 Responses

  1. Uppity Woman, on March 22nd, 2009 at 11:08 AM Said:

    Home made household cleaning etc. recipes to substitute for all of those expensive products you are forced to buy.

    http://www.budget101.com/household.htm

    More.

    http://www.recipegoldmine.com/house/house.html

  3. Mrs. Bucket, on March 27th, 2009 at 3:47 PM Said:

    Don’t overlook this one.

    http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

    “The focus here is on low-cost, home-cooking from scratch. The recipes are all tested in a real kitchen with hungry children, stalking cats, begging puppies and a playful husband underfoot. The ingredients are affordable and readily available in most areas. “

  4. kat in your hat, on April 9th, 2009 at 8:52 PM Said:

    Frugal Tips to Survive a Recession:
    http://beingfrugal.net/2008/04/03/frugal-tips-to-survive-a-recession/

  5. Indy, on April 10th, 2009 at 11:34 AM Said:

    I’ve been using this service for a few months now and it has saved me serious $$$. Haven’t as much as ordered out a pizza since I started. Don’t have wasted food. You get a weekly menu and organized shopping list. I always hated the “what’s for dinner query -but not anymore.

    http://www.e-mealz.com/amember/go.php?r=31695&i=l0

  6. cwaltz, on April 10th, 2009 at 1:56 PM Said:

    I hope I am not remiss for adding some sites that might help folks stretch their money a bit. Youdata is a site that pays you via paypal to view ads. You won’t get rich off it but it will give you a dollar or two a week. Swagbucks is a search engine powered by google that gives you swagbucks. It takes about 23 days to accumulate 45 swagbucks which can be exchanged for a $5 amazon gift card(I usually get 2 swagbucks a day, one in am and one in pm). Mypoints is a program that gives you points for reading email, answering surveys, using their search engine once a day, and using coupons via coupons.com. You can usually snag a $10 gift card every 2 months. I’ve been paid reliably by these three sites.

    Menus for moms has a free weekly meal plan, as well as subscription plans. $5 dinners also has a menu plan and tries to keep the dinners to $5 for a family of 4.

    Mom advice blog has a freebie friday where she lists free items and free events(for example Ben and Jerry’s have free cone day on Apr 21st and you can get a free sample of gillete shampoo from Walmart.com). She also lists free redbox codes on Mondays so that you can get a free movie rental.

  7. cwaltz, on April 10th, 2009 at 3:29 PM Said:

    Hmmmm I posted earlier but my post isn’t here. Is there a lapse.

  8. cwaltz, on April 10th, 2009 at 3:42 PM Said:

    Menus for moms has a free service for a weekly meal planner. $5 dinners also has some inexpensive meal ideas and does a weekly meal plan.

    Some ways to supplement money include You Data. It pays weekly via paypal for viewing internet ad sites. You won’t get rich but it pays $1 or $2 a week. Mypoints is a program that pays you for reading emails(generally 5 points per email), answering surveys(10 points just for seeing if you qualify, 50-100 if you do qualify), using their search engine once daily(75 points a month) and clipping coupons from coupons.com(10 points per coupon redeemed with 25 point bonus if you use 10 or more). You can generally earn a $10 giftcard every 2 months(they’ve got coupons for just about everywhere from Panera Bread to Wally World). Swagbucks is a search engine powered by google and ask.com. It pays in swagbucks which can be exchanged for gift cards as well. I generally am able to get 45 swagbucks in 23 days which I exchange for $5 in amazon money. Al three sites are reliable.

    I also recommend mom advice blog on fridays for freebie friday(she talks about free events such as Ben and Jerry’s cone event on 21st or Lowes and Home Depot workshop for kids) as well as talks about freebies you can sign up for such as free sample of Gillete for Men shampoo. On Mondays she lists a free Redbox code that can be used on Mondays at Redbox locations for a free movie rental.

    Hope this time the comment shows up.

  9. Mary, on May 4th, 2009 at 1:24 AM Said:

    Plagued by ants? Instead of expensive and very dangerous chemicals, pour on the baby powder. Douse the ants with it, and put it down where they come into the house. You can get a big container at the dollar store for a lot less than you would spend on Raid or other products that are harmful to people, pets, and the environment.

    Some of my students from China recommended chalk to stop ants; said ants won’t cross a chalk line. Don’t know if it works or not.

  10. gagirl, on May 16th, 2009 at 9:37 PM Said:

    Oooh, Mary, I am going to try both of those. Our old neighborhood must be built on a colony of a kazillion ants. We share them…….right after one of us gets them out of our home, another gets a new infestation. It’s that time of year.

  11. Uppity Woman, on May 16th, 2009 at 9:53 PM Said:

    Koolaid in paper cups near where you see ant traffic works too. They go for the sugar and drown.

  12. Uppity Woman, on May 16th, 2009 at 9:54 PM Said:

    My cat finds ants. Cats can HEAR them their hearing is so acute. The deal is, he finds em and i grinds em, because cats scheave ants. However, my dog eats them. Then she hacks like she has it stuck in her throat. lol.

  13. gagirl, on May 16th, 2009 at 10:30 PM Said:

    Maybe I can borrow some koolaid from my obot neighbor…….”um, hi, could I borrow some of that koolaid you been drankin’?” Thanks for the tip! :)

    My cat never did that….too funny!

  14. deadenders, on May 16th, 2009 at 10:34 PM Said:

    Get some Terro Ant Killer just a drop or two in the path they sip it up and take it back to the nest and kill all their buddies.

  15. Mary, on May 18th, 2009 at 5:15 PM Said:

    Those little Brazilian army ants were huge problem where I lived in the LA burbs. The ants here in the country look like they’re on steroids. Fortunately, I’ve only had two infestations in a dozen years, both originating in my husband’s houseplants.

    But the baby powder still did its stuff. Apparently insted of lungs, ants hae breathing tubes in their legs. The powder clogs those tubes, and the ants that checked ina don’t check out. Grisly, I know, but there’s no way to have an ant roundup an send them to barfy.

  16. Michele, on May 21st, 2009 at 2:54 AM Said:

    If your house is all electric, it’s unfortunate but lucky when it comes to the water heater….Turn it on at the power box to heat up for shower/bath, let it heat back up for dishes, etc. throughout the day and turn it off at the power box. This cuts your electrical bill a lot.

  17. jtfdotorg, on May 22nd, 2009 at 12:36 PM Said:

    Hi everyone,

    There’s a website called The Dollar Stretcher. It’s much bigger than it looks. It has all kinds of articles and forums too.

    http://www.stretcher.com

  18. Mary, on May 23rd, 2009 at 1:08 AM Said:

    Hi jtf,

    Neat site. Thanks. Hope all is well with you.

  19. jtfdotorg, on May 23rd, 2009 at 3:19 PM Said:

    Hi Mary,

    I’m OK. However, due to some personal issues, I’m going to be on blogging hiatus for at least the next month.

    Hope everything is OK with you as well.

  20. Uppity Woman, on May 23rd, 2009 at 3:47 PM Said:

    jtf! You are well, I hope. We are here, friend.

  21. Typewriterstreaming, on June 16th, 2009 at 3:22 PM Said:

    Find multiple uses for everything. For example, before you flush away that used TP consider saving it for a quick dry off, after you have finished washing your hands. You will be amazed by the savings on paper towels.

  22. Jknight98, on June 18th, 2009 at 7:34 PM Said:

    Here is a way to save money on heating costs: going solar. I actually found two manuals on how to make a home-made water heater. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/make_a_solar_wa.php
    http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Thermal-Water-Heater-For-Less-Than-Five-Doll/

  23. Somebody, on June 18th, 2009 at 8:01 PM Said:

    Umm gee typewriter uh yea are you suggesting you wipe with toilet paper, wash your hands and then DRY with the used paper you wiped with??? Because it kind of reads that way and well that defeats the purpose of the hand washing, just sayin.

  24. Uppity Woman, on June 18th, 2009 at 8:26 PM Said:

    Solar discriminates. Solar panels, and solar ANYTHING presumes you live in a sunny place. There are plenty of areas in the USA that do not have an abundance of sunny days. If our government expected everyone to depend on solar for heat and light, millions of people would find themselves living in the dark with very cold water.

  25. Jknight98, on June 19th, 2009 at 5:13 PM Said:

    True. When I find something that will work for people without a lot of sun, I will put it in a comment.

  26. Betty, on June 27th, 2009 at 7:12 PM Said:

    If people live in an area without lots of sun…they could try burning kool aid as fuel. It seems to do wonders.

  27. catsrclean, on June 27th, 2009 at 8:25 PM Said:

    Betty made me laugh :-)

  29. cats, on July 21st, 2009 at 6:52 PM Said:

    Ok, here we go – one for the smokers:

    Go electronic. Get an E-Cig. They really work, taste good and will save you a ton of money. I got mine in the mail last Thursday. I popped in a nicotine cartridge and got a stomach ache as I think it was more nicotine than I am used to. I waited until my “smoke juice” arrived to carry on (as I ordered low nictotine juice).

    Sat am I had coffee and a real cig. After that I puffed on the e-cig all day (chocolate mint flavor). In the evening I realized I had not smoked another real cigarette all day! Sunday was the same. Experimented with peach and strawberry flavors. The same Monday.

    Today, Tuesday, I started smoking “Tennessee Cured.” I love it – its more a cigarette kind f taste – very smooth and satisfying. At one point late in the afternoon I decided to smoke a real cig (only as I still have a few packs and don’t want to waste them being I paid a fortune for them). About a quarter of the way through, I decided to put it out and go back to the e-cig!!!! I don’t like real cigarettes anymore!!!! Imagine that!!!

    Here are some links:

    A Discussion Board where you can learn everything – its a culture :-)
    http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

    If you want to buy one look here (Amazon) for the best deals:

    http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Cigarette-Smoking-Everywhere-Cartridges/dp/B001DCAVIK

    And get the juice here. By the sampler – try all ten flavors:

    http://www.johnsoncreeksmokejuice.com/

  30. Freedom Fairy, on July 21st, 2009 at 9:47 PM Said:

    cats

    great report/ I smoke full flavor regular 100 cigs. I hate flavored things. What is the best option In Your Opinion….

  31. Uppity Woman, on July 22nd, 2009 at 2:29 AM Said:

    Just want you to know that the safety of ecigs has not been decided. You are an experiment. Just so you know. You are inhaling pure nicotine.
    “FDA Hazy on E Cigarettes”
    http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/13/ecigarettes.smoking/

    Yeah and I’m hazy on the FDA too. lol.

  32. catsrclean, on July 22nd, 2009 at 5:31 PM Said:

    FF,

    I am in love with “Tennessee Cured” smoke juice. Its the smoothest “cigaretty” taste I have ever smoked. The flavored ones all sound like “ice cream shop” and tempting. I bought the samples and try them, but I keep going right back to Tennessee Cured.

    There s another place called nuvape.com that has a Marlboro flavor. I ordered a sampler but have not tried it yet. (I have that Tennessee thing going) :-)

    If you do full flavor you are probably going to want the high nicotine version (36mg I think). I bought the low (11mg)

    What brand do you smoke now?

  33. catsrclean, on July 22nd, 2009 at 5:35 PM Said:

    U.W.

    “Telling smokers they may not use e-cigarettes until they’re approved by the FDA is like telling a floundering swimmer not to climb aboard a raft because it might have a leak.”

    http://oralchelationonline.com/blog/?p=2170

  35. domesticfeminist, on September 15th, 2009 at 11:04 AM Said:

    I’ve been lurking for a while…got my own blog now so I thought I’d say hello…and baking soda has to be my favorite frugal cleaning supply EVER. Not to mention it also makes cookies…mmm

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