Reader Question — Off The Wall Ways to Save Money

by Katy on May 31, 2012 · 45 comments

One of the things that I like best about blogging is the dialogue between myself and the readers. And thanks to the Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook Group, that dialogue can even happen without me. (Although I make sure to pop in a couple times per day!) Readers ask questions, post links or simply share a great frugal idea or curbside find.

Just yesterday, Samanatha shared this great idea and question:

So my husband and I have decided to make the first week of every month “No Spend Week” (with the exception of standard bills like rent & utilities). That includes no gas, no groceries, nothing. We’re hoping that this will really help us separate the wants from the needs.

Do you have any off-the-wall ways to save money?

I think Samantha’s no spend weeks sound like a great way to make each month a fresh start, and I love her phrasing of “off-the-wall ways” to save money.

Please share your ideas for Samantha in the comments section below.

 

Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }

Jan May 31, 2012 at 9:17 am

I had a pair of beige capris that I loved, until somehow I got a big bleach spot on them. Rather than throw them away, I soaked them in cold water and a cup of bleach (reusing the bleach water for a white load when I was done, of course). Ended up with a pair of *yellow capris – not a color I’d ordinarily wear, but fun for summer!

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Katy May 31, 2012 at 9:21 am

That’s great, love it!

Katy

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Linda from Mass May 31, 2012 at 9:57 am

I saw on TV an idea for saving money. Instead of spending them, just save all the $5 bills you get. So, I have started to do that. When I get a $5 bill I just put it in a special jar. It adds up really quickly.

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Katy May 31, 2012 at 10:04 am

The things is that I hardly ever use cash.

Katy

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tawnya May 31, 2012 at 10:23 am

We’ve (well, I) been doing this as well. It looks like we’ll be able to get a used piano by the end of summer…all paid with $5s!

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Samantha May 31, 2012 at 11:16 am

I’ve heard this idea before and love it. I may try it with loonies. We work mostly on cash, but we’re on a somewhat tight budget, I’d definitely notice if I took out the $5 bills!

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Laura May 31, 2012 at 2:14 pm

We never spend $1 bills or change and have saved a LOT of money the past couple of years. It’s amazing how fast it adds up. I tried saving $5 bils before and wasn’t able to manage it, but think I’m going to start up again! Thanks for the reminder.

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Becky May 31, 2012 at 3:07 pm

My mom used to save $1 bills that had a B, C, or J on them (in the circle to the left of George). This money was used for extras on our vacations to “the cabin” – donuts for breakfast, pinball games, etc.

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Becky May 31, 2012 at 3:07 pm

I should have included that the B, C, & J were significant because they are the first letters of the names of the people in our family.

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Renee CA May 31, 2012 at 7:52 pm

I do this with quarters and usually end up with $100 at Christmas time. If something costs $1.50, I’ll use two dollar bills so that I’ll get two quarters in change, even if I already have two quarters in my purse.

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Pollyanna May 31, 2012 at 10:11 am

When I receive money from “odd ball” sources (non regular income type), I tuck it away separately — for example, a rebate check, our big quarterly $9 stock dividend check, a recent check I received for jury service, at one time it was a refund from insurance for a policy change we did — this is money coming in that is not budgeted elsewhere and I can use it more discretionarily. (I squirrel away the cash, not the checks!) Over time, it adds up!

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Katy May 31, 2012 at 10:18 am

I do that too. Any unexpected money goes right into savings.

Katy

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Megg May 31, 2012 at 7:59 pm

I do that too! Anything I sell on Craigslist or babysitting/tutoring money I make I leave in my dresser drawer. We recently bought patio furniture with it! Currently I’m saving it for a cross country trip I’m making with my sister in July.
Sometimes we also use it to splurge and go out on a small date night 🙂

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Linda in Indiana May 31, 2012 at 10:24 am

I am trying to think of what I do that is “off the wall”. I am know as so tight among my family–I choose to call it frugal and not wasteful. So, things are so second nature to me that they don’t seem off the wall. I am sure if you asked my extended family they could give you enough to write a book. I will say, I am always following blogs, listening for new ideas, befriending people that are like-minded—so maybe that is off the wall. I guess I would say that my “off the wall’ thing is to keep on learning the “frugal tricks” as long as possible and keeping an open mind on each and everything I do so I can save more, spend less.

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Katy May 31, 2012 at 10:29 am

I know exactly what you mean. I too am always on the prowl for new frugal tricks.

Katy

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EcoCatLady May 31, 2012 at 10:44 am

Not sure how “off the wall” this is, but back when I was still working, my friends and I used to do an annual “clothing exchange.” It was lots of fun, we all got to clean out our closets and everybody went home with “new to them” stuff.

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Theresa Maile May 31, 2012 at 10:47 am

Sorry, Katy, I commented on the Facebook section but I’ll say the same thing here. I like to play “how long can I wait to go to the grocery store”. It makes for interesting meals and I love the “no spend for a week” idea.

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Alison May 31, 2012 at 10:54 am

I have done accessory exchanges with friends. Everyone brings a set number of items (jewelry, purses, scarfs, etc.) We set it up like a store, and then we take turns choosing items to keep. We all bring a food item and eat too!

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Rachel May 31, 2012 at 11:59 am

I switched to the whole cash envelope budget thing about 6 months ago. I pay all my bills online, but any other money I spend, gas, food, entertainment etc. comes out of my cash envelopes. That usually leads to a “no spend” or very minimal spend for me around mid-month and the end of each month when my cash envelopes start running low.

It’s interesting side effects are finding ways to make meals with what I already have as well as really considering before making a purchase that will make a dent in my cash supply.

It’s not for everyone, but it works well for me, even if I have had a few pouty moments when my envelope was empty and I really wanted to buy something. Amazingly by the time I refill the envelopes again, I’ve often found I don’t even want that thing I wanted oh so badly the week or so before.

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Poor to Rich a Day at a Time May 31, 2012 at 12:17 pm

I am like Linda from Indiana, I am always looking to learn new frugal ways and I never consider any of what I do extreme or off the wall. However I do know others very much see me that way…….I too have been doing it so long it is simply second nature and it is just “normal” to me!

I suppose my clothing is off the wall……..a minimalst wardrobe of one pair of shoes, 2 jeans, 2 t-shirts, 2 sweatshirts , 1 pjs and 1 swim suit….is my whole wardrobe.

I also have washed clothes in a tub and hang dry them, or make a watering can out of a old plastic milk jub and used a sewing needle for the holes. Or make a dinner out of foraged foods like dandelion greens, wild aparagus and wild strawberries and morel mushrooms.
There is a lot I do I suppose, I just never take the time to really think about it!

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EcoCatLady May 31, 2012 at 3:30 pm

Holy Moly! I’ve already worn 3 different pairs of shoes today alone! I’m not at all into fashion but I’ve got walking shoes, biking shoes, shoes that can get wet, shoes that can get muddy, warm boots for winter, sandals to keep cool in summer… I’m dying to know how you do it.

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Poor to Rich a Day at a Time June 1, 2012 at 6:33 am

LOL Ecocat, In summer I am barefoot all the time or throw on my tennis shoes to go to town. Around the house hubby has a pair of workboots and I usually throw those on when needed in inclement weather.

Mostly though I am barefoot all summer long. For bad winters, I do have a pair of winter boots I did forget to mention that in my post………of course underwear and socks too but I figured that went without saying LOL.

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Megg May 31, 2012 at 8:05 pm

I don’t know that what I do is off the wall, but I do think it is for my age group (or at least among my friends). We organized our clothes into whites, underwear/socks/towels and shirts. I hang or line dry all the shirts, and this has not only kept our dryer running less but also helps keep down on lost socks, I’ve noticed!
During the week I have work shirts that I have to wear, which means that my clothes last longer. I also don’t buy a lot, and just wear what I have. That obviously depends on your job.
And…I use cloth wipes and pads 🙂 Yup. (Note: I don’t use the wipes for number 2, just pee)

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Amanda June 1, 2012 at 5:59 am

Wow! You must have the neatest closet ever. I’ve been able to travel easily with fewer items of clothing than that, but I don’t think I could do it every day.

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tonya May 31, 2012 at 2:37 pm

I have a recycling bin at work and I take home the paper that’s only printed on one side for use at our home printer. And I rarely print anything at home that I could write out on a scrap of paper, thus saving printer ink.

I save the twist ties that most bunched veggies come in, and reuse them for a variety of things, like attaching climbing veggies or vines to garden stakes.

I cut off my kids’ old pants to make into summer shorts.

Spray paint transforms many items and gives them a new or prolonged life. A few years ago instead of buying new pots for flowers, I just collected all the old, random ones I could find and spray painted them all matching white. Our current patio set is mismatched Freecycle and yardsale wicker chairs painted matching, glossy black.

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Dusti May 31, 2012 at 4:40 pm

I quit my job. My husband and i are both RNs and when we both worked full time, we were exhausted. That meant more take out or convenience food (frozen pizza, ground meat helper), twice the gas, daycare, etc. Plus if the house got clean, it was because I hired help. When i took my kids to the store, I bought them what they clamored for because I just wanted them to shut up. My husband makes twice here what he made when we lived in another state so we’re able to do this but we’ve still had to pare down. The kids are in ONE activity at a time, we eat out once a pay period and we say no to a lot. But we’re also learning that by saying no to unnecessary things, we say yes to a lot more things that make our lives better. We recently said no to cable and the exorbitant bill. I’m looking forward to more real family time.

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Katy May 31, 2012 at 4:53 pm

I love this, thanks for sharing!

Katy

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Dianna @ practicing frugal May 31, 2012 at 6:26 pm

I love this too! Isn’t it amazing how much it “costs” us to work sometimes. Before I quit last year, we figured what it was costing us for me to work. Most of what I was bringing in went to daycare, fast food, groceries, convenience meals, late fees, gas, and the list goes on.

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Meredith @ Slightly Scattered June 1, 2012 at 7:42 am

I just did the same thing for pretty much the same reason! I have a few more weeks of work before they get a replacement for me, but I can finally see the light. Convenience food, over $500/month in gas, over $600/month in childcare, chaotic house unless I pay a cleaner or completely exhaust myself, and on and on and on. Satellite is probably on the way out too since all we watch is Netflix.

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jennifer May 31, 2012 at 5:07 pm

We eat lots of wild game, fish and foraged foods. Venison, rabbit, goose, crappie, catfish, blackberries, raspberries, mushrooms. We rarely ever buy meat and if we do we buy a whole animal from a local farmer at a fraction of the cost per/lb at a grocery store. Also grow lots of our own food and preserve it. Harvesting gallons of sugar snap and snow peas right now!!

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Lili@creativesavv May 31, 2012 at 8:51 pm

We repair just about everything we own, to make it all last as long as possible. Our remote for the automatic garage door opener is 35 years old. We’ve re-soldered the circuit board about a dozen times. There have been weeks where the whole thing was held together with duct tape, until one of us could get the soldering iron out. I repair all clothing, including things like bras and socks. I’ve made clothing (and cute stuff too) for my daughters out of adult clothing. I have a book on remaking adult clothes for children.

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Katy May 31, 2012 at 8:58 pm

That is great!

Katy

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emmer June 1, 2012 at 5:47 am

lili, what is the name of your book on remaking clothes, pls?

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Lili@creativesavv June 1, 2012 at 7:19 am

Hi Emmer,
By I have, I mean I own, just to clarify. But anyways, the name of the book is “Short Kutz: the Fabulous New Sewing system that Quickly Transforms Old Clothes into Stylish Wearables for Children” It’s by Melanie Graham, published through the Chilton Book Company,copyright 1991. You might be able to find it used. I got mine used through a tag sale. It has really cute stuff. I made a denim jacket out of an old pair of adult size jeans, several jumpers and rompers for when my girls were small. I wound up using maternity dresses for some of the fabric — I had 3 kids already, and wasn’t going to be needing those maternity dresses any more!

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Shannon June 1, 2012 at 8:26 am

Katy I love when you do these posts, they give me so many ideas! Totally going to try the week without spending thing. I think my only off-the-wall thing I do is to use the last drippy-drop of every product: shampoo, dish soap, laundry detergent, etc. I am known to grunt at family members who knock down my row of upside-down bottles in the laundry room!

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Laurel June 1, 2012 at 10:34 am

I am a water saver/re-user extraordinaire! Water is very expensive in my city so I do my best to save what I can and re-use it. I have barrels where I save rainwater (not so off-the-wall), but I also save the water from my dehumidifier (water plants), water from my shower (flush the toilet), water from the rinse pan for dishes – no dishwasher (water plants), water that collects in my sump pump basin (water plants/flush toilet), water from the wash machine’s rinse cycle (use in the wash cycle of the next load of clothes). I’ll use whatever water I have the most of to wash my car. I save the water in empty kitty litter pails and 5 gallon pails. I figured out that I save at least $200 per year on my water bill. And I get some great exercise hauling those heavy pails of water!

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Valerie Heck Esmont June 1, 2012 at 12:14 pm

Lots of great ideas. One thing we do is we do not have cable or satellite tv or any tv channels at all. I think it really helps us save money because one we’re not paying for it and two we don’t see commercials advertising a million things to us. I’m hoping we can stay this way even when we have kids, I think it lets us interact and be a family more. Rather than just getting sucked into the boob tube. It really sucks me in bad so I’m happy to not have it!
Also I love having flower gardens but don’t have a lot of money to spend. So I divide my plants in the spring and plant them other places in the yard. So one pot of daises has multiplied into 20 plants in a couple of years! I only buy perennials as well, so that they keep coming back!

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jennifer June 2, 2012 at 3:22 am

I’m with ya Valerie, we haven’t had cable or sattelite in 9 years and I estimate that we’ve saved at least $7,000! We still pick up plenty of channels on the antenna. I’ve got my PBS and Big Bang Theory…what more could a girl want!! LOL! But seriously I agree, it is good for us as a family to not have that time/mind sucker . Your kids won’t know any different. Mine are very happy (for now, they are 6 and 7) with PBS (now commercials = less begging!) .

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Lindsey June 1, 2012 at 4:41 pm

Here are two weird things. I buy a gallon of whole milk and put half of it in another container and then add a quart of water to each of the jugs of whole milk. Second, we don’t flush the toilet when we just pee. I used to live in bush Alaska, where water was 25 cents a gallon and it was delivered to our tank once a week; if you could not make it last a week, too bad. When we left there, we were do in the habit of just flushing when we needed to that we kept it up. It saves us over $100 a year in our water bill (we still live in Alaska, and the water is still expensive, just not 25 cents). We also conserve water in many other ways.

Oh, one more thing. From June until September, we buy no vegetables and very few fruits. Whatever is up in the garden we eat and otherwise we do without. I also can, freeze and dehydrate the excess. We kept track for a few years, and over the year it saved us more than $1000 and we don’t have that large a garden, but we do grow mostly high yield veggies and berries.

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michelle June 1, 2012 at 9:24 pm

i have not done it yet, but I am mulling over the idea of reuseable tp. just for #1. you make them out of small pieces of flannel. I want to try, but am still in the thinking stage.

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Poor to Rich a Day at a Time June 2, 2012 at 4:37 am

Michelle, I have thought about it too but never quite got the nerve to actually try it yet. it would save a ton of money though!

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Lindsey June 2, 2012 at 9:32 am

My husband, who normally goes along with all my half-baked ideas, categorically refused to even entertain the thought of reuseable tp. I gave in easily, since the idea both interests and repels me.

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d June 3, 2012 at 4:29 pm

I love my cloth tp. I know that’s weird. It’s nice and soft, and I love the the frugal and environmental aspects as well. Really it’s not very gross at all. You don’t soak the cloth with pee after all, and you can throw it in the laundry with everything else. I use the cloth wipes I used to use for cloth diapering. I guess once you’ve used cloths for cleaning really gross stuff of a baby’s bum, getting a bit of your own pee on a cloth doesn’t seem so weird. I would challenge you to give it a go and see what you think. You can always give it up if it weirds you out too much.

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michelle June 7, 2012 at 5:40 pm

i bought a flannel shirt at goodwill for 1.29 to cup up after washing it, gonna try flannel t.p. If I don’t like it well I only wasted 1.29.

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Ellie June 5, 2012 at 7:13 pm

Well, I don’t know how off-the-wall this is, but it hasn’t been mentioned yet: My DH and I often like to enjoy a beer or glass of wine with our meals….so, to keep costs down, we brew our own! It winds up costing a fraction of what it costs retail – and it’s pretty darn good!

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