Saving Money: It’s The Little Things

I’ve been wracking my brain, looking for ways to keep cutting our cost of living. Asking myself “what else can I do? what am I not seeing?” Visitng other frugal living blogs and reading what they have to say, asking other people what they do…

I’ve compiled a short list here of things that really add up to saving a lot over time. Some of them are easy-peasy things that’ll only take a few seconds of your time, others are a bit more involved, but worthwhile in my opinion.

• Make your own bread. A $2 bag of flour can make over five loaves of bread. Wow! Even for those of us who can’t just walk into Walmart and grab a 5lb bag, making our own bread adds up to significant savings.

Tip: Visit your local Goodwill. Odds are, they’ll have a variety of bread machines in the $5-10 range. With one of those, bread baking becomes a ten-second process. It’ll change your life.

• Used paying search engines such as Swagbucks. Why use google when you can get paid to search?

• Make your own yogurt. Yogurt is extremely good for you, and it’s a lot cheaper to buy a gallon of milk and make your own than to buy the same quantity of yogurt. Perhaps not quite as easy as a bread machine, but definitely well worth the time.

• Grow some veggies. Nothing could be easier than growing a bit of your own salad. It’s surprising how little space this takes.

• Get away from paper products. Cloth napkins – you can throw them in the washer. Glass plates – Well, they’re much more pleasant to eat off of, and how much time does it take to start the dish washer? Paper towels – Microfiber cloths provide and excellent replacement.

• Make your own “Cream of” soup. This is especially important if you suffer from food allergies, but eve if you don’t, it’s much cheaper and healthier.

• Make the switch from canned beans, to dry beans. It takes a little forethought to soak and cook beans, but that can be combatted by making a large batch and freezing them. It’ll save a lot of money!

• Forage for food. Yes I’m serious. Look at it as a way to get some exercise and enjoy nature.

• Stop running the clothes dryer. even in the winter, you can line dry successfully.

These are mostly just little things, but the little things sure do add up!

What about you? I’d love to hear your money saving tips!