These clever tips help keep your cash where it belongs -- in your pocket!
1. Buy Bulk or Family packs with a Friend
Know your needs. Bulk items are only worth buying if you can use them
before they expire. Consider shopping with a friend and splitting
perishables such as meat and dairy products.
2. Inexpensive Art
Take a photo of something you love. You can blow it up with some
hassle-free Internet help, then frame it, hang it, and be enormously
happy every time you walk by.
3. Flavored Water
Instead of buying pricy flavored bottled drinks at the supermarket, add a
hint of flavor to tap or filtered water by infusing it with slices of
lemon, lime, orange, or cucumber and mint. Set a pitcher of your
flavored water on your desk: You'll drink more if the pitcher is there
as a reminder, and you won't have to buy multiple bottles of water,
either!
4. Make Clothes Last Longer
Prepare your clothes for the washer by closing zippers, fastening hooks,
and turning items inside out. Wash dark together using the cold-water
cycle so they don't bleed onto lighter clothes -- and cold water is
crucial, since it lowers your water-heating costs. Line-drying dark
items will also help maintain their original appearance -- and you'll
save on heating costs of the dryer.
5. Budget Vases
Instead of shelling out cash for a pricy vase, make your own out of a glass bottle and some enamel paint.
6. Organize a Clothing Swap
Chic, savvy, conservation-minded consumers now update their wardrobes by
taking part in clothing swaps. All you have to do is gather up gently
worn items from your closet, bring them to a central location, and
choose from others' castoffs or consider hosting your own. Invite
friends, set a minimum number of pieces for each to bring, and trade
away.
7. Pass on the Paper Towels
Instead of spending money on pack after pack of paper towels, buy
reusable microfiber towels, which grip dirt and dust like a magnet and
don't let go, even when wet. When you're finished, toss the towels in
the wash and reuse.
8. Adjust your Water Heater
Lower your water heater's thermostat to 120 degrees to restrict.
9. No - Cost Wrapping Paper
The most unique and beautiful wrapping
paper -- vintage scarves, newspaper, colorful cloth, and more -- is
already lying around your house.
10. Save Money on Wine
Wines often cost more when they come from a well-known wine-making
region or are made from a popular grape. So rather than heading straight
for a familiar bottle, try something different: Instead of Chardonnay,
Cabernet Sauvignon, or Merlot, try Albarino, Malbec, or Sangiovese.
Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa are newer wine-producing
countries that make good-quality bargain wines.
11. Teacup Candles
Breath new life into partially burned candles and antique teacups that
have lost their saucers. Together, they make sweet gifts or favors.
12. Supermarket Savvy
Stick to the outer aisles of the supermarket to find the widest
selection of unprocessed foods, which also happen to be less expensive
-- and healthier.
13. Purify the Air with Houseplants
An
alternative to spending hundreds of dollars on an air purifier:
Houseplants, which have long been hailed for their ability remove toxins
from the home.
14. Use Distilled Vinegar to Clean
A one-to-one solution of vinegar and water makes an effective,
economical multipurpose cleaner. The nontoxic mixture disinfects floors
and bathrooms and cleans glass without leaving streaks. And rest
assured, its distinctive odor disappears as soon as the liquid dries.
15. Freeze It
You can enjoy herbs during the winter by preserving your abundance of
summer herb plants. You'll not only add a fresh burst of flavor to your
soups, stews, and sauces -- you'll also save money! You can also freeze
extra stock, gravy, pesto, tomato paste, lemon juice, and wine in ice
cube trays and rely on them to add oomph to weeknight meals. Pack frozen
cubes in a resealable plastic bag.
16. A Beautiful Budget Bracelet
If you have old brooches you no longer wear, why not welcome one back as the centerpiece of a romantic ribbon bracelet?
17. Save on Centerpieces
Instead of decorating party tables with large, costly arrangements,
float a few flowers in shallow bowls or glass cylinders filled halfway
with water.
18. Half - Table Console
Has the leg of a favorite table fallen off? Give half of your table a
second life as a graceful console. (The best candidate for this project
will be a table that's already split in the middle to accommodate a
leaf.)
19. No - Waste Dressing
When there's just a tiny bit of mustard left in the jar, don't throw it
out. Instead, toss in a few ingredients, and shake a tangy Dijon
vinaigrette right in the container.
20. Dry Leftover Herbs
Fresh herbs are great, but what if you can't use the whole bunch? Tie
leftover sprigs together with kitchen twine, and hang them upside down
from a rack or shelf in your kitchen to dry. Once dried, transfer the
herbs to airtight containers, and keep them in your spice rack.
20+1. Start Saving Automatically
Ask your benefits manager at work to deduct a set amount from each
paycheck and add it to your retirement or savings account. If your
employer doesn't offer a retirement plan (or automatic transfers), ask
your bank to routinely transfer money from checking into savings on a
certain date each month.
