Comments on: Day 26: Extending It Further

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:52:00 +0000

These are great ideas. Another thing I do is to cut toothpaste and lotion tubes open when I get to the end of them. By doing this I get at least 4 more uses out of them. I also dilute the end of condiments and add them to meat dishes or marinades. I dilute the ends of soap bottles and use this for quick cleaning, especially in the bathroom in between more thorough cleanings.

By: Lynn Marie

Lynn Marie — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:08:00 +0000

I love the post about coffee. I either toss the grounds or feed them to my coffee loving plants – now I know that I can reuse them. thanks for the tip. I do most of the other stuff on your list so I feel pretty good about myself right now. Thanks for the list.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:30:00 +0000

Hi Amy, You have some great ideas here. Two more items to consider stretching are dish soap and bleach. I always cut liquid dish detergent with water in at least a 3 to 1 ratio, and have no problems with removing grease or getting things clean. Full strength is overkill, and I can make a 13 ounce bottle last a month, even with six children at home and using another bottle of the diluted mixture for spot cleaning and pretreating laundry. I squirt some on my husband’s sweaty collars- it’s much cheaper than Wisk. I also have a container of very thinned bleach solution for stains on white laundry. Thanks for making us all aware of the little everyday dollar stretchers we can easily incorporate into our schedules. Olga

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:49:00 +0000

Another way to be frugal is to take a washcloth and spray it with liquid fabric softener and throw it into the dryer with your clothes. You can reuse the same washcloth each load and saves you from having to buy dryer sheets and disposing of them.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:10:00 +0000

Interesting post!

My mom always stretched the salad dressings (creamy ones) with a little milk at the end of the bottle - you know, to rinse the last of the dressing out. And ketchup as well - she used a little warm water and rinsed it into the sloppy joes, meatloaf or whatever she was using that called for the last of her ketchup! (And these are 2 things where her handy-dandy scraper didn't reach.)

I have used dryer sheets twice with good success. Usually, I'll run it with a load of clothing and then leave it in with a load of sheets or towels for the 2nd use. Works well.

I've heard of people stretching shampoo and other beauty products, but it's not advisable. It negates the preservatives in the product. Tap water is not free of bacteria, so you are potentially adding them to your product (and could be giving them a food source as well). Other ways to stretch it would be just washing your hair every other day - this is even recommended by stylists, since repeated washings strips your hair of it's natural oils and will remove your color, perm, or other treatment more quickly.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:05:00 +0000

ejustelise, how do you make your homemade lemonade? I’ve been wanting to try that.

Great tips, Amy! Looking forward to the next series. Homemade Halloween cutomes anyone? Jakesmom

By: Jthemilker

Jthemilker — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 07:07:00 +0000

Coffee grounds are great for the garden – so go a little more green instead of putting them in the garbage.

Wash laundry in cold water. It’s just as effective and saves energy costs.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:09:00 +0000

I’ve always done my kids juice 1/2 water and 1/2 juice and now that they can help themselves, they still put in 1/2 water. Makes the juice last a lot longer and they are getting more H20. They will also do this in restaurants, if you ask for when my younger daughter orders apple juice. Also, I picked up a tip on someone’s blog awhile back (sorry, can’t remember who!) to use 1/2 the amount of dishwasher detergent and it works great and makes the box last much longer. Thanks so much for your great ideas over the past month! I’ve really been enjoying them!

By: Teri

Teri — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:06:00 +0000

Great ideas… Thanks for sharing your wisdom through the month of savings series. It has been a great “frugality 101″ course for a novice like me!

By: justelise

justelise — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:29:00 +0000

Ditching soda for homemade lemonade and iced tea will save money and save your family from ingesting a lot of High Fructose Corn Syrup. You could also consider getting a bread machine and making breads and doughs with it. You don’t have to stop buying bread from the store, but making some loaves at home could save quite a bit of money and you can make breads that aren’t hopped up with preservatives and junk ingredients.