Utilities
Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
Turn off the water when brushing your teeth.
Turn the water heater down to 120 degrees.
Don't take long showers or if possible, have your daughter shower with you and your son with your husband. Doing these three things brought my bill down $10 last month.
Use your oven in the winter to help heat the house. And when your done, leave the oven door open, but make sure you put the baby gate up to keep your children from getting burned.
Close off any rooms you don't use in the winter time. We closed off the upstairs loft and brought down my daughter's mattress and put in her brothers room. This brought my gas bill down $60!
Use your crock pot in the Summer to keep your house cool.
Your crock pot costs pennies to run, so use it as much as possible.
Do all of your baking at one time. I usually bake muffins, cookies, pizza pockets, dinner rolls and whatever else twice a month and freeze them.
Unplug appliances when not in use. Even if the TV is off, your still paying the electric company because its plugged in. I saved $25 on my bill last month doing this.
Clothing
Go yard selling!
Before you spend lots of money on name brand clothes, try shopping at consignment stores or online. You can also look up promo codes for your favorite stores. I just got a dress marked $30 from Kohl's and only paid $6.99 for it brand new at a thrift store.
Shop in the off season section for next year. I bought my daughter really cute Summer outfits for only $1.70 per outfit last year at the dollar store.
Try using promo codes...go to www.momsview.com for promo codes, samples, coupons and specials that stores have running at that time.
Groceries
Plan your meals!! I went to the grocery store and my grocery bill was only $106.00 for two weeks worth of food because I planned in advance by matching coupons with sale items.
Use powdered milk to cook with to make your regular milk last longer. (My family doesn't even notice most of the time.)
Instead of buying convenience foods, scratch cook like Grandma did! If you don't think you have time, pick a Saturday to cook all of your meals for the next two weeks and freeze them in gallon bags. This saves both time and money.
Eat leftovers. Be creative with it too. I made coffee cake with 1 C of left over mashed potatoes, and that made 3 whole cakes! (It's my husband's grandma's recipe)
Stop buying pop. Its bad for you and both Iced Tea and Lemonade taste better anyway.
Wash your dishes. When the kitchen is a mess, you don't feel like cooking and end up going to a fast food restaurant, which will cost you atleast $15.00 to feed a family of four.
Plant a garden. Even if its only tomatoes and peppers, just think about how much money you'll save!
Household Items
Shop at the Dollar store for paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, personal items, ect.
Stock up on items when they go onsale.
Make as much home made stuff as you can, like laundry soap, deodorant and lotion. Sounds crazy, but hey, if it does the job and I'm saving money, I'm all for it! You can even add essential oils for a nice scent.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Tear your paper towels in half and share with your husband, you don't need a whole paper towel for your mouth... Instead of dirtying 3 cups everyday, reuse the one you got out this morning. Instead of throwing your old pancake syrup bottle away, wash it out and make homemade pancake syrup to store in it. Your being both environmentally conscious and saving money all at the same time! Besides, it tastes WAY better anyway.
