5 Top Tips for Saving Money Around the Home...That I Have Actually Tried

Here are five great tips to save money, and I know they work because I have actually tried them!

1. Get rid of cable/satellite/whatever TV. Not only does it cost money every month, but watching television wastes time you could be using to get involved with hobbies or things that are just more important, like spending time with family or helping out your community (priceless!). Finally, you are bound to be less influenced by commercials that are created just to make you buy. Tip credit: TheSimpleDollar
2. Use cash when buying groceries etc. Psychologically, spending cash is much less fun than spending either credit or debit cards - probably because you are so aware of trading away real money. Remember to write it down too, and keep those receipts - so you can track your spending and hopefully get better at only buying what you need! Tip credit: Gail Vaz-Oxlade
3. Cook and/or bake from scratch. This takes a lot more time and skill but it is usually much healthier and less expensive. You are no longer paying someone to do it for you!
4. Make your own cleaning products. There are hundreds of recipes online for vinegar and baking soda cleaning products, as well as a lot of other kinds. CAUTION: I tried making my own laundry powder however, and I must not have mixed it right, or I used too much, because it made my eczema much, much worse. I will probably try it again someday using a different recipe. If you have a home-made sensitive laundry soap recipe, please share it!
5. Make a price book or chart. I have wanted to this for years but it seemed too much work, so I was excited to find this list on a fascinating, archived blog called Under $1000 per Month. It still is a lot of work to fill out, but just having the list there is encouraging. I also found the average listed prices of many local foods and gasoline, etc. on the Bureau of Labor Statistics site. It's nice to know when things are less or more expensive than average.

So these are some of the more useful, in my opinion at least, money-saving tips I have come across so far. Tune in next Tuesday for more helpful tips, and don't forget, tomorrow is Watch and Learn Wednesday, where I will be posting tutorials about how to do "homecrafting" projects...partly for the fun of it, partly to help you save or even make some money!