Saving Money Ideas
Cut Down on Spending
1. Save all your soap ends. Later put them all in a nylon sock end and tie it in a knot and use as one big round ball of soap.
2. Save onion bags for pot scrubbers. Put a ball of tinfoil in it and tie it up with a knot or elastic.
3. Make your own rice flour or chickpea flour for gluten-free diets. Just grind it up in a blender and put through a strainer and discard bigger pieces or keep for soup.
4. Cut your own hair. Watch how to videos. Learn to cut your family's hair too.
5. Freeze stale bread and bread heels for making croutons, french onion soup, french toast, and stuffing.
6. After supper save left over vegetables by having a container in the freezer and just keep adding to it. Even if it is a few tablespoons, it all adds up and then add the whole thing to a stew or soup.
7. Save bread bags for and other bags to put food in and store, to save on plastic wrap.
8. Use baking soda for toothpaste.
9. Reuse oil after frying by just straining it and putting in a jar. Keep in the fridge.
10. Many swimming pools have an hour of free swim, incorporate into your family activities.
11. Always have popcorn in the house to make and drink mix, for those junk food cravings and movie nights. It saves on chips and pop, they add up fast.
12. After peeling potatoes keep the peels in water in the fridge with a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice to keep from browning. Bake or fry with seasonings for a great snack.
13. Use old clothes for rags, dishcloths and tea towels. If you have lots keep then in a rag bag and you won't need to buy paper towels.
14. Planning a menu will help save you money. I have a frugal menu and then a bit more upscale on depending on how much I need to cut back on spending that month. Have about 6 different weekly menus. After creating a menu have the grocery list that goes with it. This way you just use the same one.
15. Make your own cleaners, such as baking soda instead of comet, vinegar and water instead of Windex and bleach and water for kitchen counter tops and bathrooms.
16. Plan a few days of fasting from spending and see if you could go 2-3 days without spending a dime. Just make due. It is actually kind of fun. See how creative you can be.
17. Take the amount the item costs and divide it into your hourly wage. If it’s a $50 pair of shoes and you make $10 an hour, ask yourself, are those shoes really worth five long hours of work? It helps keep things in perspective.
I will probably add more tips and I hope you could add some of yours in the comments. I would appreciate it. I love reading money saving tips.
Make your own yogurt
Making your own yogurt a cheap, easy and quick, in less than 5 minutes you can have the yogurt mixture prepared, ready to set overnight.
To make 1 liter of yoghurt you will need:
A clean 1 liter jar with a screw top lid
A wide mouthed thermos that will hold the jar
2 cups milk powder (either full cream or skim, it’s up to you)
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is the starter)
Cool water (not really cold)
Half fill the jar with cool water, add the milk powder and the 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt. Put
the lid on and shake well to combine. Make sure there are no lumps of milk powder left. Fill the
jar to the top with more water, seal and shake well.
Place the jar in the thermos. Pour boiling water around the jar until it reaches approximately 2/3
of the way up the sides. Put the lid on the thermos, sealing it tight.
Set aside for 8—12 hours, depending on how thick you like your yoghurt. Once it has reached the
Consistency you like, place the jar of yoghurt in the fridge to cool.
Sweeten to taste with sugar or honey and add fruit, syrups, granola, vanilla extract.
More Ways to Save
How to save money
Saving money is like making money. If you spend money on something you should figure out how much time you had to work for it. Paying for something that cost even 4$. These small amounts add up fast. Think of saving money as an art or a hobby, because it does take skill and it does take time. In Canada, the gas price went down but the groceries doubled. So save wherever you can.
Here is just one example of how to save a little. I save all the ends of dried bread or just before it might go bad I will freeze them, so my freezer is full of these bags. When I need croutons, bread crumbs or need to stuff a chicken I have what I need. You can even make a nice dessert. Even though these items might only cost 3 or 4 $ to buy, I made this amount in about 20 minutes.
Bread crumbs – sit out on a pan to unthaw and dry out or put in the oven at 200 degrees. Once it is dry enough, break up with your hands and throw it in the blender on grind.
Croutons- cut into cubes and dry out a bit, then in a frying pan melt some butter or use olive oil, add a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan. Lightly sauté then put on a pan in the oven at 350 for about 6-8 minutes. These are the best croutons ever! Great for salads or French onion soup.
Stuffing- Cube your bread, in a pan melt butter with cut up celery and onion. Sauté and put in a bowl, add some chicken broth from the chicken you made, and some sage, thyme or poultry seasoning and stuff away. This is so good!
Bread Pudding- makes 1 - 2 quart baking dish
10 slices white bread, cut into cubes
1/4 cup of melted margarine or butter
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups hot milk
1 pinch ground nutmeg
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees F
In a bowl, combine bread cubes, butter, raisins, and cinnamon; mix well, and put in a 2 quart baking dish.
Use the same bowl and beat the eggs, stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt and sugar until dissolved. Slowly whisk in the hot milk. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes, sprinkle with nutmeg, and set aside to soak for 5 minutes.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the center comes out clean.
Variations: add brandy, rum, or pecans.
French Toast:
Ingredients
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 slices of bread
Directions
In a small bowl, combine, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar and set aside briefly.
In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk together cinnamon mixture, eggs, milk, and vanilla and pour into a shallow container such as a pie plate. Dip bread in egg mixture. Fry slices until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side. Sprinkle with icing sugar (optional) Serve with syrup.
Make your own icing sugar:
Put some sugar into a blender and grind it until it becomes a powder. I use this to make cake icing.
Poor man’s syrup: brown sugar, vanilla, or if you have maple extract butter or margarine, water, cornstarch in cold water – added for thickening. My kid’s ask me to make this still they prefer it. I used to make it when we ran out of syrup.
Saving Money is Like Making Money
my money wisdom
If you take the time to make your self supper instead of let's say buy fast food you can save probably 5-10$. This time that you spent cooking is the same as working at a part-time job, because you saved money. It is the same as earning. There are many things you can do yourself. You just need to think about it.
You can go broke with good deals. If you have to borrow or use a credit card to get a good deal it isn't smart. Think about it. You can go broke with sales. I know people who say "it was on sale". They are in so much debt. Be smart with your purchases.
If you are in debt you shouldn't have flyers come to your house or go shopping. Only get necessities such as food and basics until you are out of debt.
Make double or triple payments on your highest debt or bill until it is paid off while keeping regular payments on other ones. When that is paid off go to the next highest debt. Stay focused and have suffering in mind. No going out, no shopping, no nothing!!!! It will be worth it.
To me being stressed about money is a price that I never want to pay again. I presently do not owe anything. I own my vehicle straight out, although it is old. I have a job and plan a menu. My grocery list is in accordance to my menu. I think of it as a hobby.
These are some of my tips. If you have any others you would like to share then please comment. Thank you for reading.
Planning A Menu
Planning a Menu saves you money
If you plan a 1 week menu from snacks, drinks to breakfast, lunch and supper you will save money.
Take 15 minutes -1/2 hour a week to plan your menu. After you make the week menu make a copy of it and put it in a file. Now make your shopping list according to your menu. Make a copy of this as well and save it. When I plan a menu I also take in accordance the leftovers. For example, say on Sunday it’s a chicken dinner, well I will take that left over chicken and make sandwiches for the lunch the next day. The carcass goes in the freezer for a soup the following week. I might make extra mash potatoes so those could be used for potato pancakes. Potato pancakes can be made with raw potatoes or mash potatoes. Potato pancakes are awesome served with farmer sausage and sour cream. There are many other recipes for using mash potatoes if you want to do a search. The left over vegetables from the dinner like corn, peas or carrots, I put in one container and throw them in the freezer and then later will be added to a homemade soup. These are just a few ideas.
After about 4 weeks of menu planning and shopping accordingly to you can repeat all these menus. Then every few months you could add a few new menus ideas. You will notice the money that you save from planning. You won’t feel like going through the drive-thru because you have a plan. The benefits from planning a menu are saving money, better health and nutrition, and saving on time and stress. The lack of planning can cause stress. On busy nights plan differently, for example you don’t want to have to cook a dinner that takes so long, so maybe Sloppy Joes or something like this. These are fast. You could even make the sauce ahead of time.
-Have a pizza night- Make your own. Get flatbread, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, pepperoni, mozzarella, mushrooms, green pepper, onions ham pineapple and whatever else you want. Have your family members make their own pizza; they are ready in 10 minutes at 400 degrees. This is great idea for a family night.
-Save all your dry or stale bread for: stuffing, bread pudding, French toast, garlic bread, croutons.
-This is how I make my croutons: I usually have a mixture of saved bread and buns in the freezer, whole wheat, pumpernickel and white bread. I cut the bread and buns in cubes and set aside. I heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. I lightly sauté them and add onion and garlic powder, parmesan cheese salt and pepper. You could put what you want on them. Then I put them in the oven at 250 for about 15-20 minutes. Let them cool and throw them in a salad. Yum! I like these homemade ones much better than the ones you buy.
-My sloppy Joe recipe- brown 1 pound of ground beef with onion, add a can of tomato soup, chili powder, worcestershire sauce, green pepper optional. A little bit of water (a few tablespoons), 2 tablespoons of ketchup, I also add a little cayenne pepper. Serve on toasted hamburger buns.
- My Secret French toast- dry stale bread, 3 eggs beaten with a fork, a little cream or milk, a little salt, a dash of pepper, ½ tsp vanilla, lots of cinnamon,1 tsp sugar. Optional serve with icing sugar on top. (I remember seeing someone adding pepper and I thought you don’t put pepper in French toast, but it is good. The vanilla with pepper makes a unique flavor)
From the Weekend Dinner
For Friday or Saturday I make a big dinner. It usually entails a roast chicken, or beef or venison with mash potatoes, a few different vegetables or a coleslaw, with homemade biscuits and gravy. We usually have one heat up of these leftovers then I use the mash potatoes for various things. When I make the mash potatoes i peel a lot of potatoes knowing that i will use and need them for the next few days. When I cook them I had a few tsp of Himalayan salt. after cooked i add butter, cream or milk whatever i have on hand and butter. With the left overs i will make usually 2 things. This last week I made kookoos or which are a Persian recipe that I learned from a lady that I used to work with.http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Persian-Potato-Pancakes-Kookoo
They are awesome and nutritious. you can serve them as a meal with some side veges or with meat. or what I mostly do is make sandwiches with them. If you are a vegetarian you will love them. The other thing I make is truffles. both recipes are below.
In the past, I have made perogies and shepherd's pie, fried mash and eggs, We usually only eat meat 5 times a week and the rest of the meals are vegetarian. I love the balance and I also manage to save money. I find joy in cooking awesome meals and being frugal.
You could also use all your potato peelings for either deep frying or towards your vegetable broth.