Hello one & all...as I keep tightening the proverbial belt, I look for every possible way to pinch a penny. It's almost a rush, really, to find a new way to save some of my husband's hard earned money. My thoughts always turn to new ways to use things or to items that I can REUSE in a new way. I am a big fan of anything that can be used time and time again.
We do not purchase paper products in this house with the exception of toilet tissue and limited Kleenex. (I, personally, used cloth wipes for #1 for a time and gave it up simply because I did not have a good (company acceptable) way to store them until washtime...I'm working on that one...) The littlest one and I use handkerchiefs. (I am the nose blower for both so I am assured proper hygiene.) Given that we are the two home all day , most days, we are the one's that can have the most impact on the cost of paper. We use cloth napkins and microfiber cloths for spills and cleaning. I have even given up my kitchen sponge...read an article on the amount of bacteria these things can harbour...Yuck! I now use a dishcloth with "scrubbies" on one side. Works great and I do not have to replace it when it gets stinky or my husband uses it to wipe the floor where the dog lays...
We cloth diaper (on and, occassionally, off) and use cloth wipes. I, every now and again, get the notion that the ease of disposables outweighs the small additional effort with cloth and declare that I am done. The store receipt taunts me and I am back to cloth. They are healthier for baby, better for the environment and, best of all, I am not throwing a quarter in the trash with every diaper change. Same for wipes...at a penny or two a piece, they really add up over a week or a month. There are great tutorials online for how to cloth diaper or even make your own diapers that have the ease of a disposable. I have been making my toddlers diapers from nearly the beginning and have even managed to make a small, sporadic, income making and selling custom "disposable like" dipes.
On to a touchy one...feminine hygiene. I have been using cloth pads and pantyliners for about 2 years now. Most people "ewwww" at the idea but, really, what's the big deal. You would wash a bloody washcloth used to clean a wound or, in my son's case, a shirt from a busted lip...(It was a bad case of candy hysteria between two male cousins...it is healing nicely!) You wash your underwear...these are normal, everyday germies. Nothing special here...it's all in the mind of the thinker. Hillbilly Housewife (one of my favorite recipe and tip sites) shares her pattern for homemade sanitary napkins. I have modified my pattern to make it a bit longer and not quite as wide. Use old flannel shirts noone uses and you are saving thousands (Yep, figure it out...thousands of dollars over a female lifetime.) Plus, there is one additional benefit...I would much rather "snuggle up" to a warm flannel shirt than a crinkly paper towel. Enough said...http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/sanitarypads.htm
Lunch containers for the kiddos instead of plastic ziplocs. Thermos' instead of water bottles. Large bags of snacks instead of individual portion sized bags. (You can easily portion these yourself.) Reusable coffee filter (another new one for our house!) Using pickle jars , and the like, to store small quanitities of kitchen staples...I keep my salt in an old spaghetti sauce jar.
Look around and you will be surprised at the ways that you will find to help the environment and your pocket book...just some frugal thoughts. Blessings, Eve
1 comment:
"I, personally, used cloth wipes for #1 for a time and gave it up simply because I did not have a good (company acceptable) way to store them until washtime...I'm working on that one..."
We use cloth wipes for all our bathroom needs. I didn't give dh the opportunity to protest to be honest. Things were really tight at the time and TP was a luxury we had to give up. Out and about, he preferes TP, but will use cloth without complaint. Anyway, we have small garbage cans next to the toilet that we use to stick wipes in. Company tends to get a little tripped out their first time, but I haven't had anyone REFUSE to go to the bathroom at my house just because we use wipes.
If you weren't comfortable with that, you could use a garbage can, like we do, but put a wet bag in it, that is made for your can that can be pulled shut when company comes over. Or... stick them in with your cloth diapers really quick when you know company is coming.
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