One of the biggest ways to save on a family budget is to cut your grocery bill. There are several ways to do this. One is to buy what is on sale and use coupons to bring that price down. Now, I'm not talking about extremes like TLCs "Extreme Couponing." But you can save big without having a huge stockpile. A few things to remember, sales generally run in a 6-8 week cycle, meaning what is on sale now, will probably be on sale again in 6-8 weeks. So when shopping , try to buy enough to last your family 6-8 weeks. I use www.southernsavers.com to help with most of my grocery shopping. Jenny at SoutherSavers does a great job of explaining all of this. Simply visit her Learn to Coupon page: http://www.southernsavers.com/learn/ For those of you who are local, I've also found that Bruno's has great deals on meats and produce. And like Publix, they double coupons up to $0.50.
The second thing I do to save on my grocery bill is that I'm part of a produce co-op. Basically I'm part of a group that buys in bulk straight from the farmer or wholesaler and we split the produce among all the families. I generally get a huge laundry basket of produce for $10. This alone saves a lot on my grocery bill!
Another thing we do is grow some of our own produce. This past year, we grew squash, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, turnips, and collards. We tried to grow corn and carrots, but they didn't turn out. We'll keep trying.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Misc
Today was a busy day for me. I actually made the laundry detergent I mentioned in my previous post. Not hard really, and took less than an hour! And for $7 I made 2+ gallons of detergent and have some borax and washing soda left to make another batch.
I also made my own face wash. This was REALLY easy! http://www.simpleorganizedliving.com/2011/02/23/homemade-facewash/
I'll let you know how both turn out!
I also made more floor cleaner (we ran out this week). I simply use 1 cup of vinegar to 1 gallon of water. Again super easy! It keeps really easily. I simply mix and store in a clean milk jug. Since we have laminate floors, I put some in a spray bottle and spray it and "mop" it with a cloth. I find it works better if I heat the solution before I spray it....I simply microwave it for about 30 seconds in the spray bottle before I use it.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4855334_use-vinegar-cleaning-floors.html
I also made my own face wash. This was REALLY easy! http://www.simpleorganizedliving.com/2011/02/23/homemade-facewash/
I'll let you know how both turn out!
I also made more floor cleaner (we ran out this week). I simply use 1 cup of vinegar to 1 gallon of water. Again super easy! It keeps really easily. I simply mix and store in a clean milk jug. Since we have laminate floors, I put some in a spray bottle and spray it and "mop" it with a cloth. I find it works better if I heat the solution before I spray it....I simply microwave it for about 30 seconds in the spray bottle before I use it.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4855334_use-vinegar-cleaning-floors.html
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Save $$ on laundry
The first thing I want to share with all of you is how to save money on fabric softener. Simply replace your fabric softener with vinegar. Much cheaper and better for the environment.
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/replace-fabric-softener-with-vinegar.htm
I've been doing this for months and can tell you it really works! Our clothes are soft!
The second thing I've tried to help with the cost of laundry is to line dry my clothes in the spring/summer/fall. Unfortunately it is hard to do during the winter. But still, 3/4 of the year without the cost of running the dryer saves $$. And with the help of vinegar, lined dried clothes come out soft.
The third thing I'd like to share with you about laundry is to make your own detergent. I have not tried this yet. I'm waiting until I finish my current container of organic laundry detergent, but I can't wait to try it and wanted to give you a heads up. When I get to try it I will let you know how it works.
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/make-your-own-laundry-soap.htm
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/replace-fabric-softener-with-vinegar.htm
I've been doing this for months and can tell you it really works! Our clothes are soft!
The second thing I've tried to help with the cost of laundry is to line dry my clothes in the spring/summer/fall. Unfortunately it is hard to do during the winter. But still, 3/4 of the year without the cost of running the dryer saves $$. And with the help of vinegar, lined dried clothes come out soft.
The third thing I'd like to share with you about laundry is to make your own detergent. I have not tried this yet. I'm waiting until I finish my current container of organic laundry detergent, but I can't wait to try it and wanted to give you a heads up. When I get to try it I will let you know how it works.
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/make-your-own-laundry-soap.htm
Starting
Ok, so I've never blogged before. And don't really know what I'm doing. But I've had people tell me that I need to share how I save money, go green and some of the crafty things I do. Well, I'm going to try, but I work (teach) and am raising 2 kiddos, so life here is never boring. But I will make an effort to post ideas I have / find.
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