How to Score Big Savings on the Road

  When you are looking for ways to reduce travel expenses start small.  You may be surprised to see that in no time those minor moves can add up to big savings. Here are a few simple money-saving tips to get you started: Stay at a hotel that offers complimentary breakfast, and then take an extra apple, banana, yogurt or granola bar to eat as a mid-afternoon or late-night snack.  It beats spending additional money feeding the vending machine or calling room service when you get hungry later in the day. Bypass big city restaurants and dine at a cheaper … Continue reading

5 Things to Make From Scratch to Save Money

Homemade is usually best, especially when it comes to saving money. Here are five things you can make from scratch to save money. They include homemade cleaners, food prepared from scratch, baby items and more. Pizza Pizza dough is quick and easy when you make it in a bread machine. Even with loads of toppings, two large (restaurant large, not supermarket large) thin-crust pizzas will cost you around $4. For a little more money, you can buy prepared dough, but of course making your pizza completely from scratch means a lower cost as well as a lack of preservatives and … Continue reading

Money-Saving Packing Strategies

I took a crash course in efficient packing shortly after I was forced to fork over $100 to United Airlines for failing to keep my bags under 50 pounds. For an extra $150, I could have purchased my bag a seat and let it ride next to me on my flight. I kicked myself for months following that debacle.  It was a costly mistake that should have never happened. With holiday travel peaking in a few days, consider the following packing tips so that you won’t be forced to shell out extra dough on your flight to grandma’s house: Make … Continue reading

Teaching Children to Do Own Laundry

Once my children turn 13 years old, they become responsible for their own laundry. I had been a little more generous with my youngest son (you know how that can be…the whole “it’s my baby” thing). But the past couple of weeks, I have finally been strong enough to let him deal with the repercussions of letting dirty clothes pile up on the floor. Not wanting to wear dirty clothes for school today, he threw in a load of wash last night. Thankfully I decided to watch how he was doing it. I had taught him how to use the … Continue reading

Laundry Tips for Saving Money

Most of us are trying to save money any way we can. One area that you may not have considered when it comes to this is your laundry. So here are some tips that may help save you some cash. It could also make the task of laundry more manageable. The first tip is to wash less. The average top-loading washing machine uses about 40 gallons of water. Even though front-loading machines use less (between 10 and 24 gallons), it is still a waste of money to put in smaller loads. You can save not only the use of your … Continue reading

More Stress-Free Savings

Not for nothing, but I just can’t see making my own laundry detergent for the rest of my life, regardless of how much money it could potentially save me. This is not to say that I look down on those who do. In fact, I admire individuals who possess the wherewithal to combine different ingredients and magically mix-up a concoction that actually gets clothes clean. What’s more, I am not above finding alternative ways to sanitize my home without breaking the bank. For example, rather than use Clorox to disinfect my kitchen sink and counters, I use vinegar, water and … Continue reading

Saving Money While Reducing Clutter

So much stuff winds up in the landfills these days, I feel guilty every time I take the trash to the curb. We all do live lives of excess. Everything is readily available to us, all those little things that make life easier. Fortunately for the planet there are lots of ways to reuse things. You just have to pay attention. This will be the first in what I hope is a series of how to use things we normally throw away. Every time I clean I come across something that has outlived it’s usefulness, the challenge is coming up … Continue reading

High Efficiency Washer Tips

High efficiency washers are wonderful for saving energy, saving water and saving money. They are also prone to problems that traditional washing machines don’t have, such as mold growth, suds overload, etc. Here are some tips that you can use to make sure that your high efficiency washing machine works to its maximum potential. Detergent High efficiency washing machines require special high efficiency (HE) laundry detergent to work, otherwise, the wash load may produce too many suds. Regular detergents can cause an overload. Using less of a regular detergent might help, but then you may not get the concentrated cleaning … Continue reading

Are You Dry Cleaning Your Money?

Here is a disturbing statistic for the frugal folk. A survey by Proctor and Gamble found that women spend an average of $1,500 a year on dry cleaning. The survey also found that about 65 percent of those items that are sent to the dry cleaner are actually washable at home. Imagine how much of a savings that you could have if you skip the dry cleaner? Plus, avoiding those dry cleaning chemicals may be healthier for yourself and your family. Here are some tips that can help. First of all, there is a difference between dry cleaning recommended and … Continue reading

Timesaving Tools

There are so many tools on the market to help you clean your home quickly and more efficiently. I previously wrote about time saving laundry and housecleaning tips, now it’s time to talk about the tools that can save you time. Personally, I don’t like disposable products, I think they are a waste of money and landfill space, but I can also see the need for them. So here are some products to help you keep your house clean. Cleaning the toilet is not high on anyone’s list of favorite things to do. Luckily there are products on the market … Continue reading