cheap

My brother challenged my sister-in-law to come up with two ways to save money. Ever since she told me I've been having a great time brain-storming. So here is the list I've come up with. Some ideas I stole from other sisters, some from my mom, some from magazines, some are maybe even mine...okay truth is I stole all of them from somewhere or somebody. Plus we currently don't have to economize quite the same way as we did, so we don't do all of these now, but after thinking about it all week I'm thinking we should do more of them.

1. Buy a water saving shower head: the kind that allows you to slow the flow to a trickle or even to stop the flow completely while you suds up. This is supposed to save tons of money in the long run because you aren't pouring gallons of water down the drain while scrubbing your hair. (I also find them extremely handy for rinsing the shower walls because they are on a hose.)

2. Only put a couple of inches of water in the tub to bathe the kids. I learned this from Mom and still use it today. My baby only gets about an 1 1/2" of water at the deep end. It's plenty for her to splash in and from me to wash her in. (It helps that she has very little hair.) The other girls get quick showers because I can't get their hair clean in a bath.

3. (My dad really does this.) Get a bucket and collect the cold water as it turns warm in the tub before you shower. Use the bucket water to flush the toilet.

4. Put a brick in the toilet tank to reduce the amount of water the toilet uses to flush. This only works for older models. Newer toilets are supposed to already be using less water to flush.

5. Buy a nifty and cheap dryer rack at Walmart and hang up your clothes to dry instead of running the dryer. I did this for years when we were first married. I also hung them over shower rods, chairs, towel racks, and whatever else was handy. Now I use the canopy of my bed.

6. Shop thrift stores and yard sales for clothes. I have a couple sister-in-laws who are expert thrift shoppers. They buy almost all the family clothing at thrift stores and the thing is no one can tell.

7. Cut out prepared foods from the menu. You get a lot less food per pound for the same price. Plus they aren't healthy anyway.

8. Get the Sunday paper and cut coupons. But only for the things you buy, otherwise you end up spending more money buying food you normally don't buy in the first place. Plus be smart and check the price of the generic compared to the coupon. Frequently I find the generic brand is still cheaper than the name brand with the coupon.

9. Cut meat portions in half. Instead of cooking a whole chicken breast for each grown-up I cook 1 and Alan and I share it. Now that I have 3 kids who eat, I cook 3 and Alan takes 1/2 for lunch the next day.

10. Be willing to be humble and go without or wait it out. Somehow my kids have managed without having dance, karate, or soccer. I couldn't afford to start swimming when Sarah was 3 so she was 6 and still learned to swim as well as Alyssa who started when she was 3. Likewise sometimes I just have to say, "We can't afford it." and be good with that.

11. (I'm really not good at this one at all.) Only buy toys or presents for your child for his/her birthday and Christmas. Don't go overboard either. I admire a couple of my siblings-in-laws who only buy their kids 1 Christmas present. The focus is not on gifts. Or give your time, special one-on-one dates instead of pricey gifts.

12. Every time you want to buy something to decorate your house, or to eat, or to wear, or to drink, stop and ask if it is really and truly necessary. 99% of the time the answer is "no", followed by "we can't afford it."

13. Trade services. I trade haircuts for tutoring. I trade babysitting too sometimes.

14. Switch to those energy efficient light bulbs.

15. Grow a garden of stuff you'll eat. (Alan can't figure out how come we grew cantaloupes.)

16. Change the thermostat to be cool in winter and warm in summer to save money heating and cooling the house. Wear a sweater in the winter and nothing in the summer. (Did I just say that!? Just kidding, wear something obviously!)

Well there you have it. There's probably more ways. These were just all I could think of this week.