Money Saving Ideas

[Jes]

Whenever I make a stir-fry, I save all the vegetable trimmings and toss them into a pot of water with an onion and some garlic and boil - vegetable stock!

What are your tips to save a few $ here and there?

[dawngirl]

I do the same thing Jes. But I'll collect craps/skins/trimmings and put them in a zip bag in the freezer. When I get a good bit of stuff, then I'll boil it off with some spices, etc. and end up with enough stock to keep me going for a bit. Once it cools, I pour back into zip top bags or other containers and freeze for future use.

I buy generic or store brand as much as possible, and bulk items too.

[Jes]

I wash some of my ziploc bags and reuse them.

[SaraG-N]

Originally, I saved the most from cutting out items. Changing lifestyles helped a ton. No more junk food, fast food, and pop. What a savings! It really adds up.

Homemade cleaning products, dish brush instead of sponges, dish clothes instead of paper towels.

Library vs. bookstore.

Thrift stores instead of big retail stores.

Set menu planning, so only purchased what I needed when food shopping.

Small changes in baby steps made a big difference overall.

[Gracie]

Last year, I was out of work for about 7 months. We learned to get by on very little money! I made everything from scratch, and didn't buy ANY convenience foods. I made big batches of veggie burgers and froze them, made granola in my food dehydrator, bought whatever veggies were on sale and froze those, even made homemade dog treats! Unfortunately, my money-saving tricks are very time-consuming, and now that I'm working again, I don't have time to bake dog treats and make homemade applesauce whenever we want it.

Oh, and I definitely agree with SaraG-N about menu planning. We make a weekly meal plan, then a shopping list from that. I spend way less when I don't have to pop into the supermarket for "just one thing".

[rvijay]

I wash some of my ziploc bags and reuse them.

Locally, these are 15 for $1.15

It is so easy to recycle and use them. Wish I had noticed/learned this before.

Vijay