Frugal Friday--It's the Little Things

Lately I've been thinking about the "little things" that add up. I wonder how much you can save if you make conservation and frugality in these little areas a habit throughout a lifetime! Here are some "itsy bitsy, teensy weeny" little ways that I cut corners.

*Almost every Saturday we walk to the grocery store and kids receive a helium balloon for free. When the balloon falls to the ground then next morning I snip the colorful ribbon off and throw it in my gift stash! Free ribbon!

*I save the Sunday comics for wrapping paper. I am a stickler about saving gift bags and tissue paper when I have a shower and if I see others throwing them away at their showers, I ask for it!

*Disposable stuff isn't the MOST frugal way to go, but when you are pregnant and without a dishwasher, anything that saves on dishes is nice! Instead of using a paper plate for my toast in the morning, I use a small paper towel.

*Being more conscious of how much TP you use. I can be one of those people that mindlessly bunches up way more than I need. I'm trying to be more careful in this area.

*Re-using foil and ziplocs. I've mentioned this on here before, so sorry for the repeat! If you wash off foil that's been barely used and re-use your plastic ziplocs, you will save 5 cents per re-use!

*Taking your own grocery bags to the store gives you a discount of 5 cents per bag!

*Taking two minutes to pour some water into a re-fillable bottle before I go on a big outing or shopping trip usually saves me $1 since I'm not tempted to buy a drink while I'm away from home.

*Every time I bike to my folk's house, which is a little under a mile away, I'm saving a quarter and benefitting my body!

*By buying at yard sales, I try not to pay more than 10-25 cents for nice, new greeting cards for relatives' birthdays.

*Paying attention at the grocery store usually helps me save $2 a week as there are often things that ring up at the wrong price or coupons that haven't gone through and the cashier didn't catch it.

*By regularly popping into the thrift store on our street I have found so many things I've been looking for at a mere fraction of the retail price. For example, this week I went in to look for nipple/bottle tops for the glass baby bottles I got at a yard sale last week. For 5 cents, I got two whole tops that looked brand new, making my glass baby bottles a grand total of 27 cents each!

*Whenever possible, I try to hand-deliver letters and cards to people I will be seeing that week at church instead of using a stamp. I save at least $20 a year this way, if not double that!

*I try to borrow/swap books with people or buy used from Amazon if there is one I really want to read and my library can't get it.

*Adding water to my dish detergent bottle and the baby shampoo and hand soap help them to stretch and make it easier to rinse the soap off/out.

*I recently discovered that I can save LOTS of time, and probably money too, by washing my hair every other day instead of every morning. My hair looks and feels healthier, and oddly enough, less greasy and I'm saving on shampoo!

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands and thousands of little ways you can stretch things in your household. Feel free to list some of your favorite ideas in the comments section!