You Might Be a Frugal Homemaker if….
I don’t think most people associate frugal living with fun. Homemaking to most people sounds like a lot of work. But both of these can be fun. Today’s list of You Might Be a Frugal Homemaker if.. points are all things I do or have done.
Sometimes you need to get a little creative to save money. Some of these might be things you already do. But I’m hoping they will get your thinking of creative ways and little tasks to help you save money in the everyday things you do.
You Might Be a Frugal Homemaker if…
1. Carefully flatten your aluminum foil so you can wash it and use it again.
2. You have a system for washing your plastic zippers bags so they can be reused.
3. You keep your old bread bags, so you have bags for your homemade bread and use them until the wording is almost worn off.
4. You can’t bring yourself to purchase laundry detergent, but instead make a batch of homemade laundry soap that last a year.
5. You know how to darn a sock and actually get around to doing it.
6. You physically can’t throw away a bottle with a little left in it, instead you water them down to make sauce.
7. You know how to make your own foaming hand soap.
8. You have the rock bottom prices memorized for the items you buy most often and comment to yourself about how you could get a better price at a different store while shopping.
9. Your not afraid to take apart a broken appliance to see if you can fix it.
10. You can read a schematic of broken appliance to order the new part and fix it yourself.
11. You’ve cut open the toothpaste tube just to get that little bit out you can see but can’t quite squeeze out, even when you squash the tube against the counter.
12. Your bar soap looks like a masterpiece will all the layers of small leftover pieces of soap bars stuck together.
13. You’d rather shop an estate sale, garage sale or thrift store before setting foot in a mall.
14. You know the perfect route to hit all the discount grocery stores in your area in one trip.
15. You can turn a bunch of leftovers into a meal your family raves about.
Now it’s your turn! What can you add to this frugal homemaker list? I would love to have you share your ideas in the comments below.
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16. You are constantly looking for ways to save while making your home a happy place to be.
17. You turn the heat down a degree or two and bundle up to save money on your electric bill.
I do most of the things on your frugal list, too! Especially quoting rock bottom prices in the store. There is plenty I can’t remember, but I can remember grocery prices!
Great ideas Kristen! I know we turn down our heat too. I know it’s hard to remember all of them. 🙂
You get mad at the paper boy because he didn’t bring the newspaper with your 3 coupon inserts inside 🙂
That’s a good one Erin. 🙂
You explain how to use coupons to your husband and have him pick up deals when you can’t. 🙂
Great Idea, Sandra!
– You ask your husband to save the tiny slivers of soap he refuses to use so you can make hand soap
– You save onion skins, carrot tops, etc. to add to your homemade bone broth
– You plant your own fruit/veggie garden
– You buy a 29lb box of ripe bananas for $2 at the commissary & spend 2 evenings peeling, chopping & freezing (but don’t need to buy bananas again for a loooong time!)
– You sprinkle baking soda on your carpets before vacuuming instead of buying the fancy stuff
Lol I could keep going – maybe I should create my own post! 🙂
Freeze bread scraps and defrost later to make bread crumbs.
Make your own dog treats.
Collect seeds from vegetables instead of buying them.
Crush clean egg shells and put around plants instead of buying snail bait.
Use solar lights on your patio and inside during power outages.
Brush your teeth with baking soda instead of buying toothpaste.
Clean drains with white vinegar and baking soda.
All of those are great tips, Joline. Thanks for sharing them!
Have skylights installed to save electricity.
Install blackout shades behind curtains to ward off heat from extra hot days.
Have windows installed at the top row on roll up garage doors to light the garage instead of using electricity.
I love your ideas, I do some of these as well.
Raise your own chickens
Make soup from leftovers
Make homemade cleaners
Use vinegar instead of fabric softener
Those are all great ideas Greta! Thanks for sharing them.
Use small appliances to cook to cut down on heat in summer and simmer pots of soup,stew or spaghetti sauce in winter to heat up the house. Grow my own herb garden in my kitchen window. Use produce bags as pot scubers. Use leftover candle pieces to make new ones
All great ideas, Millicent. Thanks for sharing them!
Tie a knot in dry cleaning bag / uniform bag and use it as a kitchen
garbage can liner.
Tie plastic bags over your shoes when mowing so your shoes don’t get stained and to cut down on dirt tracked in the house.
Keep sizzors in the bathroom to cut apart tubes / packages so you can scrape out the last of the product (toothpaste, lotions, hair products, make up etc.)
If it’s not too dirty after finishing the dishes – Scoop soapy dish water into a bucket and use to scrub the floor.
You love quizzing your husband on how much something cost you because he always answers too high. (and getting something at a ridiculously low price is your form of retail therapy)
That’s a great one, Amy. 🙂 Thanks for sharing it!
If you run out of dishwasher detergent use regular dish soap..about half the amount of the detergent you’d normally use..then when the dishwasher foams soap on the floor you can use it to mop..two birds one stone lol
Sorry but that’s a bad idea. Regular dish soap will blow the door seal and then you will have a big problem.
I did this a couple of times by accident but my dishwasher worked for 12 years. I haven’t got space for it since we moved so gave it away
When there is just a small amount left in a bottle you hold it in your hand and “windmill” it around with your arm and use centrifugal force to get it all up to the top to get that last little bit.
Recycle clothes with other mothers who have younger kids and older ones!
Coupon and price match
unplug everything not in use to save on power
We used to be much better about unplugging everything that wasn’t in use, but we’ve fallen out of the habit. It’s something I need to start doing again. Thanks for your ideas, Jenny!
I fix the clothes and buy almost everything in a bulk. I also cook yor two days and reheat the food. I recicle the soap. I diy a lot.
You have clear shower curtains and space blankets cut to size for your windows to cut down on heating/cooling costs.
You also lay space blankets down over the insulation to cut heating and cooling costs. Perforated reflective insulation stapled on the rafters pays for itself in one year if you DIY. Gravy after that.
You have each room wired to a breaker so you can flip off the rooms not in use.
You dry all laundry except blankets on the clothes line.
When sheets are worn thin, you cut them to size for towels for drying dishes, drying cars, doing windows.
After price matching and couponing, you put your meals for the next 2 weeks in the crockpots(at night when power is the cheapest) and then divide portions in the morning.
You buy the smallest dawn dish washing liquid on sale with triple coupons instead of flea shampoo because it works better and costs less.
You are the lady who buys holiday chocolate after the holiday and keeps it in the freezer.
Sewing has saved us a lot of money. My guy worked in a garage so there was no reason for new jeans, I patched the old ones till I couldnt anymore.
Angela, I so agree with you. Learning to sew has been the best thing I could have done when I was younger. when you an sew you can save money by making things yourself and mending items that otherwise might need to be throw away.
Making sure to make a menu plan before going to the grocery store so you only buy what you need to make the items on your menu.
Making a compost bin out of an old plastic barrel so you aren’t throwing out all the veggie bits and pieces.
I loved reading through this post, and the comments as well. It’s nice to see so many people who have common sense when it comes to saving money. Thank you for sharing!
Cara, Thanks for adding your frugal homemaking tips. I also make a list before heading to the store, it really saves me from wandering around and finding more things to buy. 🙂 I like your idea for a compost bin too. We have a compost bin at our house it’s great for making compost for the garden. ~Shelly
Shelly, definitely Yes to #3, #11 and #15. Definitely No to #5: I always say I don’t darn socks, I damn them! I cut tubes and plastic bottles of lotion and sunscreen in half and always get a lot of lotion that would’ve otherwise gone into the recycling bin. I line-dry a lot of the laundry instead of using the dryer. I think it’s all fun!
Jean, I like your idea of cutting the tubes in half to get all that remains out. I always end up with a mess when I do that. Maybe we just need to be more careful. I would love to line dry year round but it’s so wet here in the winter I have to use the dryer during the winter months. Thanks for adding your tips!
I save all of the heels of bread in a freezer bag to use for bread crumbs, and I wash all of our zip lock bags bags as well! Every little bit helps!
We do too, great frugal minds think alike. Thanks for sharing, Jill!
I make breakfast pancakes with egg whites then use the yolks to make homemade pasta. If I don’t need the pasta right away I dry it. Sometimes I add carrots or spinach to the dough then cut and dry the pasta. Put the dried pasta in cellophane bags and tie with festive ribbons, and add to gift baskets.
Any bits and dabs of food uneaten or food scraps leftover are fed to our chickens. When I clean the chicken coop the straw and any leftover scraps go to mulch the garden.
Thin bath towels get cut up and bound with bias cut fabrics to make washrags and dish cloths.
Thin sheets get cut into 8 inch squares. I use those as a foundation piece to make strip blocks for quilts, table runners and tablecloths.
Most anything can be repurposed in a new way rather than thrown in the garbage.
Leftover pieces of fabric can be used to make drawstring gift bags or glued to tin cans or glass jars or even oatmeal containers rather than purchasing gift wraps.
Frequently I use a wicker basket, line it with a set of napkins or a bread cloth then fill the basket with baked or home canned goods, tuck in a rosemary plant or a bundle of dried sage and trim with a beautiful bow then there is no wrapping needed and the whole gift and packaging is useful
Instead of bragging how much your clothes cost to your friends you can’t wait to tell them how much it was after the clearance price.