Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[happygirl]

didn't martha stewart say she didn't use laundry detergent? didn't she say she squirted a squirt of dish soap in the washer? does someone know about this?

I tried that once and just barely used any dish soap and it pratically overflowed my wash machine, talk about a HUGE mess

 

[runwad]

DH grandma calls it "Got to Go" night

We call it mustgoes..everything must go

 

[StillPinballFamily]

Ok - we also make our own bread daily. As of today, I'm now mixing in Gold Medal/Pillsbury bleached flour into my beloved King Arthur regular unbleached flour to help it stretch further. Crap.

Two months ago, I was getting a 25lb. bag of the regular King Arthur flour at Costco for $7.49 - now that is the exact price (at BJs) for a 10lb. bag. (Costco only sells the 25lb. bag and BJs only sells the 10lb. bag.) EEK!

We also mix in about a cup of the KA white whole wheat flour into each batch - the kids don't notice, since it's "white," not yukky brown WHOLE WHEAT (!) - and it is healthier. The price of this hasn't gone up as much (yet!) - it was always about $5.00 for 5 lbs., but I'm sure that will be changing soon.

Also - thanks to a PP for the tip on watering down kids' shampoo! This is a great suggestion that never dawned on me. They seem to use SO much and it seems they frequently hit my pricey Biolage - those days are over now! (I stock up on this at an annual sale and get it for $12.99 a bottle rather than $30!)

Great tips here! Thanks!

 

[TifffanyD]

Ok - we also make our own bread daily. As of today, I'm now mixing in Gold Medal/Pillsbury bleached flour into my beloved King Arthur regular unbleached flour to help it stretch further. Crap.

Two months ago, I was getting a 25lb. bag of the regular King Arthur flour at Costco for $7.49 - now that is the exact price (at BJs) for a 10lb. bag. (Costco only sells the 25lb. bag and BJs only sells the 10lb. bag.) EEK!

We also mix in about a cup of the KA white whole wheat flour into each batch - the kids don't notice, since it's "white," not yukky brown WHOLE WHEAT (!) - and it is healthier. The price of this hasn't gone up as much (yet!) - it was always about $5.00 for 5 lbs., but I'm sure that will be changing soon.

Also - thanks to a PP for the tip on watering down kids' shampoo! This is a great suggestion that never dawned on me. They seem to use SO much and it seems they frequently hit my pricey Biolage - those days are over now! (I stock up on this at an annual sale and get it for $12.99 a bottle rather than $30!)

Great tips here! Thanks!

Great tips! Does the king arthur regular flour work well for bread? I use the king arthur bread flour but it's SO expensive (it was $5 for a 5 lb bag but that was awhile ago... not sure what it is now). Never thought of using some wheat - going to have to check that out!

 

[StillPinballFamily]

Yup - the KA regular unbleached makes awesome bread! (Their special "bread flour" is very $pricey$ - haven't ever tried it, but it is probably great, too.)

We usually use 2 cups of the regular KA mixed with 1 1/3 cups of the KA white whole wheat in each of our everyday loaves. Now, I'm trying 1 cup of the lousy GoldMedal/Pillsbury bleached flour, 1 cup of the white whole wheat, and 1 1/3 cups of the regular KA. We'll see how this works...it won't be a huge savings on each loaf, but over the course of a week...a month...it will really add up.

 

[rottiemom]

I only use the bread flour for things like french bread, muffuletta rolls or pizza dough- things that I want a crisper crust for. The difference from AP is very noticable. I use AP for everything else. I did try adding 2 cups of AP to my pizza dough this weekend but it just didn't have the right bounce & stretch. The crusts weren't as tasty & I couldn't get them nicely thin. I guess I've gotten spoiled. So has my family .

If there's a Trader Joe's near you I've heard that the KA flour is a little bit cheaper there. Don't know for how much longer.

 

[84disney]

In our bathroom soap dispensers I use walmart brand baby soap with a little tea tree oil. I also cut it in half with water. That is less than half the cost of even the cheapest hand soap. The lavender scent baby soap smells good with the tea tree oil.

 

[chefkellyb]

I called my phone company a few days ago and canceled several services like caller id, call waiting, and voice messaging. This alone is saving us about $20.00 a month! And not missing them one bit! I was tempted to reduce it further with a "limited calls made out" plan for another $10 savings- but chickened out. Baby steps...

 

[sunnyday123]

Ive been doing this for years.. I always hated buying napkins or paper towels..

The only time when I might buy one pack is when we are having a cookout or party and numerous people are coming over.. but on a day to day basis we use the extra dish towels that I bought..

I thought about this, but aren't you washing alot more?

 

[MrsKreamer]

When making the box mac and cheese I either combine two boxes of noodles to one cheese packet or just add walmart brand elbow macaroni. I find my kids like it better than full strength. I add a little bit more milk.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I thought about this, but aren't you washing alot more?

I do this too, and honestly no, I am not washing anymore than just washing towels.

 

[crisi]

Combine trips - with gas so expensive, stay home unless you NEED to run to the store or the baby won't have diapers until you have a list long enough to justify a trip. Make all your stops at once. Swing by the store on your way somewhere else. Don't start your car to drive across the parking lot - if the pet food place is two doors over, walk.

 

[TifffanyD]

I only use the bread flour for things like french bread, muffuletta rolls or pizza dough- things that I want a crisper crust for. The difference from AP is very noticable. I use AP for everything else. I did try adding 2 cups of AP to my pizza dough this weekend but it just didn't have the right bounce & stretch. The crusts weren't as tasty & I couldn't get them nicely thin. I guess I've gotten spoiled. So has my family .

If there's a Trader Joe's near you I've heard that the KA flour is a little bit cheaper there. Don't know for how much longer.

haha well pretty much what I bake is french bread and pizza dough - so maybe I'd better stick with the bread flour. We don't go through it THAT quickly so I can just suck it up, I guess.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

I cut Dove facial cloths in half - still works the same.

Excellent idea! It works great- thank you!

 

[OceanAnnie]

When making the box mac and cheese I either combine two boxes of noodles to one cheese packet or just add walmart brand elbow macaroni. I find my kids like it better than full strength. I add a little bit more milk.

I wouldn't have thought of that.

I forget who suggested watering down laundry detergent, and using the soak feature but I've started doing that. I know I've been using too much soap in the past and this helps me to use the right amount. Thank you!

Thanks to everyone for the tips. It's amazing how little changes add up!

 

[snickerboo]

*use the library or go to a used book store instead of buying books (especially if it's a novel you don't even know if you'll enjoy!) Dh and I go to a charity bookstore. If you bring in your old books, you get a credit of half of what they can sell the books for towards your purchases. We basically end up just recycling books this way. Any money the bookstore does make goeas to support schools in Haiti

*sell your old stuff on kijiji, craigslist or facebook sale groups. It takes less organization than a big yard sale since you can sell as many or as few items at a time as you want, and there's no paying for advertising, price stickers, etc.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

This doesn't work for me anymore because I work from home now, but when I was working part-time in an office, it saved me a lot of money. I love magazines, but not the cost. So I sent out an email at work and asked if people would pass their magazines on to me when they were done reading them. I don't really care if I'm reading them a week or two late! Anyway, I got tons of magazines. The ones I didn't want I just threw out, the others I took home and enjoyed. Even got to read some new ones I hadn't looked at before. And people were happy to do it!

Teresa

 

[happycampers]

After posting on the breakfast idea thread, I thought I'd add this idea here too since it is a breakfast stretching idea:
I use quick oats to make my oatmeal in the morning, but the kids like the flavored packets. They could eat multiple packets if I let them. I buy the packets cheap at Aldi's (about $1.39 for a box of 10), then I add some extra quick oats to make it stretch. They still get the flavor, and they have a bigger bowl of oatmeal to fill them up. (Adding extra oats helps if you've accidentally added too much water also.) There are some homemade oatmeal packet recipes out there, but the ones I've tried haven't worked well. I think I'm going to try some new ones I found when our current supply runs out.

 

[Belle5]

Give up paper towels and paper napkins. Buy a bunch of good quality (on sale of course!) white dish towels. They will last forever, can be bleached of stains and can be used for drying hands and are great for covering laps really well while eating...so they're perfect with kids...less stains on clothing!

I think I am going to give this a try.

Also, I am thinking about buying a clothes drying rack like my mom had when we were kids. I will probably need a couple of them. I am thinking of using the tip someone gave about drying the clothes in the dryer long enough to get the wrinkles out and then put them on the drying rack. Problem is, I grew up with a basement (northeast) and Mom did the laundry down there. We don't have basements here so I am perplexed as to where I would put the drying racks. Oh well...where there is a will, there is a way! I will find a place.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

We don't have basements here so I am perplexed as to where I would put the drying racks. Oh well...where there is a will, there is a way! I will find a place.

We put a (I'm drawing a blank on the name of it!!) -- the same type of rod that might be in your bedroom closet to hang clothes on with a wire shelf above it. Anyway, we put one of those the entire length of our laundry room and use the shelf above for storage and hang clothes to dry on hangers on it. Then when they're dry, they're already on hangers & we just haul them upstairs.