This giveaway has ended. Thank you to everyone who entered your thrifty tips!
Although Thrift Week is over, thrift at my house lingers longer than a house guest with a hide-a-bed fetish.
To recognize the 365 days that encompass my thrift week, I have another giveaway for Non-Consumer Advocate readers.
Today’s giveaway is for a copy of Thrift: A Cyclopedia, by David Blankenhorn, (Templeton Foundation Press.)
“In David Blankenhorn’s new compendium, Thrift: A Cyclopedia, he reminds readers of a time when thrift was one of America’s most cherished cultural values. Gathering hundreds of quotes, sayings, proverbs, and photographs of Blankenhorn’s vast personal collection of thrift memorabilia, this handsome book is a treasure trove of wisdom from around the world and throughout the ages.”
To enter to win this book, please share your favorite thrifty tip in the comments section below.
I will randomly pick a winner on Wednesday, January 27th at midnight Pacific time zone. One entry person, and this contest is open to U.S. residents only.
As a special treat, two runners up will receive “Bring Back Thrift Week” T-shirts in size large.
Good luck!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
I have received no compensation in exchange for this giveaway.
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I use Borax and Washing soda to wash the dishes in the dishwasher. It only takes a second to put the powders in the machine, is great for the earth (no phosphates!) and costs mere pennies!
I love this! What is washing soda?
We like to save coffee or butter containers for the kids to reuse at the park for rocks, to make sandcastles, collect things in, etc.
Before going to a restaurant (which is infrequent to start with), I check the restaurant’s website for coupons and discounts. Often I can become a “member” (for free by submitting my email address and agreeing to receive promotional updates) and get an instant coupon for a percentage off or a free meal.
My most loving thrifty tip is to breastfeed your babies. Not only do you save the cost of purchasing formula for the first year but babe may be significantly healthier, thus saving doctor visits and possible prescription costs. And the savings may extend into the teen years as breastfed babies usually grow up with fewer orthodontic issues and may forgo the need of braces.
I’ve started making my own pizzas including the dough for the crust. It’s easy, something fun to do, saves a trip out to the pizza place and in our neck of the woods upwards of $15-$20 for a large pizza. Other than planning the dough in advance I think we even get it on the table quicker & with a lot less oil & no huge box to breakdown into the recycling bin.
I like to use sheets that I find at yard sales and thrift shops to make dresses for my girls. Sheets wash and wear well, don’t wrinkle much, and have interesting patterns. Florals are our favorites! I also find some patterns at yard sales, etc. My best buy on patterns however, was when the local JoAnns was moving about 1/2 mile down the road. I got patterns for $.05 each! Yes, they were new, but so hard to pass up at that price!
Blessings–
Dana
my favorite thrifty tip is what katy always says, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”.
I always google for coupons before buying from internet sites. I can almost always find a coupon for % off or free shipping.
When the top of our fitted sheet finally ripped beyond repair, I used it to cover our box spring and used the perfectly good sheet on the box spring to put on the mattress instead (I do not use dust ruffles and prefer to cover the box spring with a fitted sheet instead to hide the edges.)
My favorite thrifty tip is to craft with Reuse items. There are a handful of creatrive reuse centers around the US – like reCREATE. reCREATE works with local businesses to divert unwanted items for use in lessons in conservation AND the fun stuff – ART!
You can get perfectly great treasure for pennies on the dollar.
I always reuse pictures and verbiage from any greeting cards I receive to make my own giftcards and pkgs. Plus I always save any wrapping, bags and bows to reuse in my gift wrapping.
My favorite way to save money is to hang clothes on the clothesline. I do this for 8 months out of the year, it saves a lot of money on electricity and I love going out first thing in the morning to hang up clothes. Just me, the birds and first light, very peaceful.
My favorite fun and thrifty tip is my annual post-holiday regifting party. Each year in January, I invite people over who bring a gift they’ve received during the past year (or something they bought that didn’t work for them) and we have a little “greed” style exchange. The last person to the event picks first, and they unwrap a gift. The next person can either “steal” the first gift or open a new one. As the exchange goes on, people become more bold, “stealing” and trading to get the item they really like.
The party is great because it eliminates the guilt of keeping something you don’t need/want – when you know something is going to someone who will use it, you feel better about giving it up. The gifts really do get recycled which is good for the planet. And those attending all leave with something more useful to them than what they came in the door with.
Plus, it’s a good excuse for a fun potluck party with friends!
We make new candles by remelting the stubs of our old ones, as well as by saving the shavings from our bees’ honey cappings that have to be scraped off in order to harvest the honey. We love to burn candles, but the nice ones are quite pricey so this allows us to recycle almost forever the used wax. We have nice candles and gifts for the price of a cotton wick.
I slit the bottom of the vacuum cleaner bags with a razor blade , remove the contents and seal it up again with gorilla tape, only once per bag, but I get double the use. Also, as the bag is full predominately with dog hair, I place the hair around my plants that are susceptible to deer predation. Works really well!
I make my own laundry detergent with about a quarter of a bar of ground laundry soap (currently using Zoat for 99 cents a bar), plus 2 cups each of borax and baking soda. Clothes actually get cleaner and smell sweeter longer (as tested on workout wear), and you only use about a tablespoon of the mix per load.
Prior to joing The Compact I was an avid shopper! I love clothing and creating fun, funky unique styels. Since November, I’ve had to get more creating since I am no longer buying new items soooooo I’ve used my creativity to craft new looks with all the pieces that I already own! I browse adds and various catalogues that come to my house and before I pop them into the recycle bin I take a look and see what I have in my closet that could be paired with another item that is similar to the “look”. I find I am using different color combinations and enjoying making my own “retro hip” versions. Scarves are my latests fun fashion trend………and I’ve found some great ones at thrift stores. I am also learning to knit so if there’s something really cool I see somewhere, I take a picture or take a note and then see what I can do make it! I feel that embracing thrift is allowing my creativity to thrive!
Favorite thrifty tip is to make lunches almost exclusively beans or lentils and rice. Cheap, and easy to make in the crockpot a week at a time. And usually yummy!
Favorite thrifty tip – gotta give my husband credit on this one – don’t be afraid to do your own car and house repairs! Relying on how-to manuals and knowledgeable friends, hubby has installed new floors, new water heater, repaired a/c unit, installed new kitchen sink, installed new dishwasher, and does maintenance and oil changes on all our vehicles himself. It does take longer than having someone else do it, but having patience has saved us literally thousands of dollars, especially on the vehicles.
We buy most of our clothes at thrift shops. Having done that for years, I get sticker shock if I look at regular retail clothing prices. I am able to find very nice things, sometimes even brand new, including such labels as Talbots, Eddie Bauer, Lands End, JCrew, and so on. I get lots of compliments on my clothes!
Since I don’t have a dishwasher (no space in old house) and I do dishes by hand, I rinse them in cold water. It dawned on me that hot water that I could stand didn’t sterilize dishes anyway, so what was the point of using the gas to heat the water to a below-sterilization point?
I carry reusable water bottles everywhere I go to avoid paying for bottled water and adding plastic to the landfill.
I sew, so I am able t repair, and do minor alterations on clothing, which allows me to wear my clothes for years! I also help friends and family out–sometimes for cash, other times for a one of their skills!
I take horseback riding lessons. I have been trading cleaning stalls for lessons.
Our latest thrift adventure is homemade yogurt. First we stopped buying it in little tubs and tubes. Then it was just big tubs. Now I don’t have to worry about recycling or reusing all that plastic too. We also have a garden and make our own tomato sauce. The first year we made it, we figured it to be less than a dollar a quart. That year we bought some jars and herbs. Now we just own and grow. So it would be even cheaper. You can’t even buy crappy Ragu for that and I grow organic heirloom tomatoes ! Can’t wait for August
I am in charge of the coffee bar at our church. Since I had literally NO budget, I called all the local Starbucks & coffee houses around and asked if they would be willing to donate coffee. They were more than willing to help out.
Then, I called the local bakeries around town & asked if they would be willing to donate their day old baked goods from Saturday (they are all closed on Sunday) to our coffee bar. Since our membership is primarily the homeless & disadvantaged, this is sometimes the only meal they get.
In addition, I save all the coffee grounds from the coffee bar and use them in my garden. Talk about some colorful hydrengias!
My favorite way to save money: We live in a townhouse and are forbidden from having an outdoor clothesline. I found a metal garment rack and we place our freshly washed clothes on hangers and hang them on the rack to dry. It not only saves electricity, but also adds humidity back in the air during winter.
I used to take a shower every single morning, no matter what. Now, due in part to part to laziness as well as a strong desire to live more greenly, I shower about 3 times a week. Thankfully, I don’t exercise regularly
It was something that I evolved into doing. It saves lots of water, shampoo, soap, washing of towels, and a chunk of time (to sleep in a little, for example). As well, I think twice before pitching something into the dirty laundry. Could I get one more use out of it?!
Buying secondhand! It changes your whole outlook on “stuff.”
line dry all your laundry.
My tip- cloth diaper your babies! Not only is it thrifty, it’s so much better for babies bottom, and no more poopy explosions!
I used to buy sooooo many books! I just started using the library and I’m saving so much money and having lots of fun “ordering” books and then picking them up when they’re ready.
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