For cleaning, white vinegar is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal plus it won’t poison you. You can use it as a surface cleaner for tile, or on glass. For wood surfaces, Murphy’s Oil Soap is easy to dillute and use. Baking soda is an excellent abrasive for dishes or other surfaces. And it absorbs odors. If you buy it in bulk you can really save. Same with vinegar. Get a gallon container of white or apple cider vinegar instead of a small amount and you save.

I’ve noticed that in general it is a lot cheaper to make things myself from scratch (or almost scratch) than to buy pre-made. Plus I know what goes into my food and can use better ingredients. This may sound overwhelming, but it’s not an all or nothing thing.

I make my own liquid laundry detergent! LMAO! It’s easy enough, and although time consuming, makes two gallons at a time. I have old detergent jugs I fill up with it.

The kids and I are all very sensitive to various soap products – no Tide or we rash like freaks – so I was thrilled to find this doesn’t bother our skin and it’s low suds.

I make my own taco seasoning mix, too.

My cell contract is up in October…there will be changes comin’…

Actually, just ask T-mobile and they’ll tell you that if you’ve had service with them for some length of time – 24 months or so- you can get unlimited everything except data for 50 a month. Additional lines on that account will be 40 a month. My sweetie moved my line to his and we’ve dropped about 70 dollars a month in costs. If I were you and the soldier’s not tied into a different provider I’d move his line to your account to take advantage….

I’ve been pay as you go for about two years now and my rate plan just keeps going down little by little . . I love it.

Also, mortgage rates went down a week after I signed my mortgage papers but an hr on the phone later I had the lower rate . .

Check out price policies at your local stores (especially larger ones) In Ontario if an item is priced lower on the shelf than it rings through at the cash register most stores have to give you either a $10 discount, or the item free (whichever is lesser of course) Its written on the dusty sticker stuck to the back of the cash registers monitor or scanner by law ‘visible’ to the customer . . Being charged ten cents more can save you ten bucks y’know?

Zellers will price match almost everything if you bring a local flyer. AND Despite being a large chain, if the item is damaged you can negotiate a discount. When I was a cashier get tired of whiny customers asking for it, buuuuuut, we’re authorized to do it.

Yoikes! That is a long contract. We just renewed ours and took the discount on new phones (mine lovely with the fold out keyboard of almost 9 years died) and even with the new two year contract required for the phone(handset) discount the moved us over to the cheaper plan.

Oh, and I used to get “by the case” 10% discount at the old store and asked the new chain store about it and they said no, it has to go up to the district manager level and then they’ve only been known to give a smaller discount when it’s 50 or a 100 cases!

And if you’re feeling really cheap you can wash/condition your hair with baking soda, rinse with water and then rinse with a diluted (very) solution of apple cider vinegar. The people who cut my hair always rave about it’s beauty and health and no split ends etc. etc. The ONE that I told freaked when I told her that was what I used for years.

So I’ve kind of learned not to advertise too much weirdness…

ooops, well you’d actually save $4.20(sent that way to quick), it’s pretty cool.

I saw this on the news one night and tried it and it worked….if your interest rate on your credit card is too high, just call them and tell them to lower it to one point above prime and they will do it. I did this with my Mastercard and they lowered it immediately and it is such a relief!

Jessica, I am a long time customer and have never had a complaint. Sprint on the other hand… er, are they still in business?

worst cs ever encountered in the course of a lifetime. The soldier had them as a carrier – served 4 months of a 2 year contract before breaking it / cutting his losses

Oh! And the initial outlay is the most you’ll spend on it for a long time! The washing soda and borax last me about a year, the bar of Fels Naptha makes three batches of the detergent. That you have to replace after six gallons of detergent have been made, and it’s cheap!

You can get fels naptha at vermont country store online btw.

mudlike you’re pretty kind! I would have put the washing machine under lock and key by now, but then again Mars/Pluto is known to amputate, LOL

Here are my top 10:

1. eat less meat. grains and lentils are often cheaper and add more nutritional variety
2. cooking meat with yogurt for a cheap low-fat saucy dish
3. grow your own herbs (even in the bathroom window)
4. lemonade instead of juice
-2 fully squeezed lemons + one jug of water. Keep it in the fridge constantly. Add ginger and honey for a twist. Makes a great alternative for gin and tonics, too
5. do everything less: smoke less, drink less, eat less, shop less, eat out less…knock unit a month off of every thing and gradually work your way towards monkhood (just kidding)
6. if you live in a city, or otherwise are able to, ride your bike or walk to do your errands
7. newspapers instead of paper towels (works for everything, including spills)
8. scour your local Salvation Army, Goodwill, free section on craigslist for things that can be resold quickly: good if you need cash flow
9. if you feel the urge to buy something for retail therapy, that is a clue you are in the need to be pampered: do some sort of home-spa thing using something from your kitchen.
10. grow accustomed to waiting a week for anything you want/need (unless it is life-necessary, like utilities or food)

mud– do you have a sudsy sue for your crazed tennant?
http://shop.marketpublique.com/blog_images/springcleaning/il_430xN.43718419.jpg
it cuts down costs on single dish washing.

Re: eating less meat (great ideas kash), here is one of my favorite recipe websites! http://www.101cookbooks.com/

I’m not a vegetarian, but I love eating vegetarian from this site.

thanks you guys. jessica i love eating vegetarian too. for the last couple of nights I’ve been eating jasmine rice, topped with peas, kale and sauted mushrooms with garlic and sweet chili sauce. to die for! and it costs about $1.50 to make a meal, if that.

minor league baseball games are cheap entertainment (if you have Sagittarius) – $5-ish a ticket.

keep containers of water in your freezer – it’ll cost less to cool it.

plan meals and only buy food for that stuff.

buy food in bulk. ethic grocery stores have cheap bulk spices, grains, beans, etc.

landscape with trees, bushes, plants etc that grow things you can eat.

get a timer for your hot water heater.

A lot of grocers will discount fruit and vegetables if they are near ripe. You can make soup out of the veggies. I’ll put a whole bunch of veggies in one pot, cook until tender and then use a hand-held blender to cream it. It freezes easy like this too. If you leave it spice/salt free you can use it for the base of a sauce or curry or whatever you like.
I’ll buy a box of fruit and take time to wash and peel everything and freeze them in yogurt containers, already cut up. I have a fruit smoothie most mornings because I have a hard time eating in the a.m.
A box of 12 mangos was only $7 last week. It sure is cheaper than buying fancy frozen fruit.

I put eggs on top of rice, too. I like it if the egg is fried over-hard. You could scramble it, too.

wow, kashmiri, those are awesome tips! you eat how I used to eat before i got pregnant and moved, and everything got crazy. but those are great ideas!

To save money on food, I am on a “homemade everything” drive – I already cook all of our “main food” (i.e. entrees, vegetables – even make my own seitan because we eat mostly vegan) and rely heavily these winter days on super-cheap and awesome things like lentil soup, split pea soup, minestrone. Very recently I’ve been going a step further and cutting out all the purchased snack foods – crackers, cookies, etc. – in favor of homemade. My plan is to keep the freezer stocked with homemade cookies, muffins, scones, etc. so when the dessert urge hits, we’re covered. And vegan baking is so cheap – no eggs, milk, butter, etc. required – and so good and actually, kind of interesting and fun. Some amazingly creative vegan cookbooks have come out in the last two years. One quick example: you can make your own spelt (or other flour) cracker flatbreads with just flour and water and a sprinkle of salt.

RESEARCH to get all of your *necessary* expenses (read personal finance blogs to identify what a real necessity is, for a reality check) down to the minimum, RESEARCH to borrow at the lowest rates, invest in mutual funds automatically, and get all the “icing on the cake” disposable income goodies for free or with points/credit card promos/from hot deals sites. Sign up for every frequent flyer/travel/bonus club out there.

Buy luxury goods secondhand or buy from artisans directly. Custom cut gemstones are a BARGAIN and indescribably gorgeous; for the settings, there are reasonable people you can work with or you can buy a mounting secondhand. You will find JUNK at a mall or chain store. Tiffany and the like are way overpriced; if you are in the market for something high-end, get a stone from a cutter and have it set in a custom setting. Not cheap, but a work of art that rivals all the big international jewelers.

PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARDS EVERY MONTH. Use them for everything to maximize points/cash back/special offers. Do not EVER carry a balance unless it is a 0% no fee 12 month promo. You should have the money already, so invest in a 9 or 12 month CD to pay it off when it’s due. Make the minimum payments AUTOMATICALLY so you are never hit with a late charge or, most importantly, the deferred interest on the balance.

Food expenses: Eat healthy and learn to cook; a level above that in terms of cost is Trader Joe’s, then Whole Foods; then I’d skip chain restaurants and go right to fine dining.

Just a few ideas courtesy of my Scorp Sun & Libra Venus who reside in my 2nd house. (I would LOVE to be a personal finance consultant and design and sell jewelry, can you tell? )

PS Grow sprouts. They are a superfood. They are so inexpensive and have up to 20x as much of disease-fighting sulforafane glucosinolate(SGS)their elders,especially broccoli sprouts. One oz of broccoli sprouts has as much SGS as 1.5 lbs of broccili. SGS kills cancer cells and/or prevents them from growing, lowers cholesterol and fights macular degeneration.

Garlic. Buy the jar in the produce section. It last a longtime and cost about 2 dollars

Onions buy a 5 lb bag and clean all of the onions at one time and chop in your food processor. Measure out 1/4 cup amounts and freeze in small sandwich bags. Take it out when you need it.

Do the same with parsley or even green peppers.
When on sale buy, divide portions baggie label and freeze…

Labeling and dating is essential or you won’t be able to distinguish your Cilantro from your Italian Parsley…LOL

LisLioness

Does Henna work on hair that has no color parts that have turned white or grey ?

Hi Elsa,in my country (and why not in the USA) you can extend a contract via a gsm shop center and get a new phone AND other gifts (like a mini laptop or a DVDplayer) for free (if you call a lot) or for cheap. And I used to extend the contract just like that (and they didn’t tell me) for years until I found out…