Be sure to leave YOUR tips. We'll be featuring some of them in a special video at the end of the 3-part series. We can't wait to learn from you! 😃

Line an empty cereal box with a zip lock bag and fill with food you want to freeze. Freeze then remove the box leaving behind a ‘block’ which will stack easily in the freezer, saves space and stacks nicely. Re-use the box and ziplocks too. Love your frugal hints.

I'm cutting out junk food and eating out. 2nd week in a row!

I put found coins into a donation jar for the organization Feed My Starving Children. That allowed me to increase my giving to a wonderful charity with no sacrifice.

I make my own scratch paper pads,I cut up envelopes that come in the junk mail

I used baking soda to bresh my teath for years, also trained my 7 year old twins and 5 year old son to do it. recycle Zip-locks & freezer bags, recycle spagetti sauce jars, turn off lights when not used, do launry with cold water and wash at night time, unplug cords, reuse aluminium foil, repurpose old clothes, it is so much fun to experiment with these things and demonstrate to our kids the value of using things well and prevent waste with the end goal of being debt free. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

We take our own food almost everywhere. If we set out for a day of shopping, we pack lunch rather than stop at a fast food place. When we go on vacation, we will designate a couple of nights to eat out locally, but the rest of the trip we pack a cooler with breakfast and lunch items and a crock pot for dinners (or use the in-room microwave.) We started doing this originally to save money, but now we do it for health reasons, too. And we simply like home-cooked food better. We took an 11-day trip to Alaska and while we made sure to eat out fresh seafood several times, at the start of the trip we stopped and purchased a cheap cooler and a bunch of groceries. We stayed in hostels where we could cook our own food and at the end of the trip we donated the cooler to a thrift store. We saved a ton of money and had some delicious, healthy meals -- saving our money for things like kayaking and a flight-seeing tour of Denali.

Go to bed early. A lot of electricity is used at nights for lights and heating. If you aren't at work during the day, go out and use resources from public spaces, such as the air conditioning in shopping malls and libraries.

Back when my husband used to travel for work. I made him put all the soaps and shampoos in his suitcase. Once I had a good amount saved I squeezed them all into an old shampoo and conditioner bottle. There were several years that I never bought the stuff. 😀

Hope and Larry, you guys are my favorite couple on KZfaq! I love that your personalities and humor are so similar, I can feel the chemistry between you two and most importantly, you are both on the same page about being frugal and saving money.

I took apart wood pallets and built a vegetable stand for the end of my driveway. I was even able to reuse the nails. Not only was the build completely free, but I was able to make a few bucks selling excess produce from my garden.

The habit I have developed that really makes people think I'm crazy is homemade reusable kitchen wipes and bathroom wipes. I stitched up 8" red flannel wipes for the kitchen and blue for the bathroom. I still use paper towels for buttering all my baking dishes (a roll typically lasts 11 months). I use the bathroom wipes after emptying my bladder, then put them into a sealed container beside the commode; I still use toilet paper for more extensive cleanups. Of course, we use no facial tissues in my house, just handkerchiefs. I also made 4" flannel squares for applying homemade facial toner. Kitchen wipes are washed with dark loads, and the others are washed with my bathroom linens, panties, pajamas, etc. All are sanitized with oxygen bleach in the wash, and the vinegar in my homemade fabric softener gives additional anti-bacterial action. I save A LOT of money, reduce my exposure to the poisonous chemicals used in paper production, plus help save the environment.

Hi guys! For the laundry detergent problem I just mix equal parts WASHING soda and borax to use as a washing machine cleaner and wash the machine empty on the hottest setting (once a week) I use anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on how yucky the machine is. I have found that my recipe is pretty good and it can be used to strip clothes as well. I wash with a homemade soap and rinse with vinegar, and I haven’t had a problem yet. My dentist also gave me the okay to use baking soda and bentonite clay for my toothpaste. I mix 3 pets bentonite clay and 1 part baking soda. My dentist recommended I add xylitol to help with cavity prevention as well, but I haven’t because it’s expensive. Regular toothpaste makes my teeth hurt like sugar but straight baking soda makes my gums sore-so I have found my happy medium. I also do cloth diapers unless we are out and about or bedtime, same for cloth butt wipes. We home cooked baby food, cloth diaper rags (they are AMAZING compared to regular dish towels!! And clean floors and window BEAUTIFULLY!). I shop for clothing second hand, off season and I buy bigger so my kids can grow into them or I know they will fit next year. We buy cars cash and used, and my husband does the oil change and most repairs. We’ve built most of our furniture, all windows and doors open on the summer and Switch out to heavy curtains, flannel sheets and winter blankets In the cold winter months ( I’m also in the northern Midwest). I make my own cleaners and I line dry in the summer- and winter! The clothes WILL dry in the winter, then I pop them in the dryer for a few minutes to soften up. I bathe my girls together, we watch free movies, go the park, get coupons for experiences, and my kids get second hand toys a lot of the time, and infrequently. I know people will judge us for that, but my husband and I are VERY involved with our kids, and we have some of the happiest and most well adjusted kids I know. They don’t throw tantrums when they can’t have something and always find something to entertain themselves with (pots, spoons, brooms, pillows, sheets lol- you name it). It is possible to live fully and abundantly while humbly; it puts life into perspective, and your life is seen through the lens of humility and gratitude. My husband grew up in the rural mountains in Mexico, so he has taught myself and my children to be resourceful and creative, and I am so grateful for that because I know if something were to happen we could survive. I wish people would live more humbly, with restraint to teach themselves the value of things and of people and of the knowledge to be self sufficient. I love the work you do guys, keep it up!

My mother used to say when you feel the urge to go grocery shop, go back over your list and cut out any thing you really don't need , then wait an extra day or two while you use up things in the fridge that might go to waste otherwise. Then clean and organize your fridge and THEN go shopping. She estimated that trick helped her save at least 1/4 on her food costs. It cut out impulse buying and used up what we had on hand.

Aside from the money savings I really like that so many of your suggestions are environmentally-friendly and low waste. All the more reason to live a frugal life!

I don't turn on the light to ho to the bathroom at night. I use the torch on my phone. I recharge my phone every time I drive my car. I also use solar lights from the garden to light my home before I go to bed.

We tried making our own laundry soap but I ended up getting a bad rash. I have sensitive skin and have only been able to use All free and clear. I have done almost all of the things that you have done. Hubby used to work for a grocery store and always got the marked down meat and produce items. That really helped. I got this tip from Lydia Senn, put your dishwashing soap in a spray bottle and dilute it with water then spray dishes before washing. I probably use 1/4 of an ounce soap and 4 ounces water to my bottles. One bottle of Dawn dish soap lasts me a year.

Usually I can find laundry detergent for free or fairly cheap with coupons and deals at CVS or Dollar general. The trick is to use their apps along with paper coupons and deals.

We built our own house! We borrowed an excavator and dug down, built our own foundation, framed the walls.. pretty much everything except electrical, plumbing permits, and hanging and mudding the drywall. That was money well spent!

We shop local Asian, Indian and Mexican grocery stores (we're blessed to have all 3) for items like rice vinegar, lentils, beans, noodles, produce and spices. So much cheaper than the regular grocery stores.

One of my crazy frugal moves was to go to the supermarket dumpster and get wood crates produce had been in. I bleached them for sanitation, aired them out and used them as little bookcases. Also 2 boxes stood up with a third box on top upside down made a little side table.

I make my own all purpose cleaner with vinegar and dawn. I use cheap bubble bath 1$ at dollar tree and use it it in my old saved handsoap containers with half water. Lasts a very long time. Make my own dog food using ground turkey and chicken with canned or fresh vegetables. Walmart in my area has ground turkey for 1.25 a pound. I stay out of stores and use grocery pick up to stay on budget. I water down my dish detergent. I make bread, biscuits, and rolls from scratch. I bathe my animals even cats to keep fleas and ticks away. I grow my own vegetable garden. Make my dogs dog beds with old pillows and throws using the knotted blanket method. Reuse tea bags using one new tea bag each time. We drink a lot of tea.

I propagate plants from the plants in my house, pot them, and sell them. Houseplants are expensive to buy.

When it is cold outside, I leave the oven open when I finish cooking. Free heat!

I reuse aluminum foil that is only slightly used such as wrapping bread or cookies. I wash and dry it and then fold it up nicely for the next time. If it is real messy such as using it for bbq items and such, then it get tossed out

Something weird I do to save money. I wash my car in the rain! When I know it's going to rain hard enough, I will back my car out of the garage while it's raining to get the car good and wet. Then pull it back in and use a car wash brush to scrub it down with some car wash liquid or even dish detergent. Then I back it out into the rain to rinse! One good thing about this is that rain water leaves no spots!! My son really thinks this is funny!

Banna's can be sliced and frozen .put in a blender with a tablespoon of peanut butter blend of make great ice cream.It's turns out like soft serve ice cream.(you can add chocolate chip nut or what you like.

Love these crazy frugal habits. And I always pick up any coins that I find on the ground too 😁

I do my own nails, eyebrows, and dying my hair at home and save hundreds of bucks. I ask for toothpaste samples from our dental clinic and there are plenty to use. I bring home the wet wipes from some takeaways and use them in the car. I reuse plastic bags from shopping for our trash bins. I preserve vegetables by making yummy pickles and jam. I make home made burgers and nuggets. I wash and reuse plastic containers of food packaging and reuse them for picnic and other things. I up-cycle the jars and bottles for multiple purposes. The fun goes on and on 😊

No disrespect to my late husband, but I wish he had been as interested in frugality and reuse as yours. Making it a joyful game that offers so many benefits, is the way to go.

I bought Some hair flippers and have saved a fortune cutting my husband's hair for over 20 years!

I find that we did many of thhe same things in raising our 4 children that you did. I patched and repaired holes in jeans, cut off the feet of one piece pajamas when the last child outgrew the outfit, cut the children's hair, made all the meals from scratch, reused freezer zip lock bags & etc. It was a normal way of living for us. My son calls me his WWII Mom since the things we implemented mirrored some WWII frugal tips.

We wrote a grocery budget to help save for a down payment for our first house, $80/week for 3 ppl if we went over we had to put something back.. we had ppl behind us say” we will buy that for you” !! We never allowed that, if it’s over, no expectations something must be put back we made our own laundry soap as well! Saved hundreds a year!

I have stretched my gas dollar by using the cruise control on the highway. It’s amazing how much less gas you use when you set the cruise control at the speed limit, especially for long stretches!

When my daughter was growing up, we used our birthdays for the AC and the heater. When it was my birthday (12/7) we turned on the heater, and when it was her birthday (6/18) we turned on the AC. It was like an extra birthday celebration, and it saved me some money too.

I stopped using a dryer to dry my clothes after my dryer broke. Very European! When my kids were young, I did not bathe them everyday.

I wash and reuse ziplock bags and aluminum foil (as long as they're not disgusting or had raw meat in them). I was at a friends house for a playdate with our kids and asked her where she keeps her clips for hanging up a bag I was washing for her and she looked at me like I was nuts lol I forgot not everyone is frugal lol

I save my receipts each month in an envelope in my journal, after scanning to fetch and Ibotta (if applicable). At the end of the month I go through and add up. I journal once a month of my wins and what I could do better. Other than necessities, I don't buy things during most months. In the same journal, I keep a list of wants. Every third month I go over the list. If I still want an item, I buy it. Unsure, put it on the list for the next third month. Sometimes I actually forget why I wanted an item in the first place!

We use the wood pallets to elevate our stuff in the basement in case we get water down there.

Yay! We live extremely Frugally and I just LOVE to learn new ways of scrimping! Some of our best: 1) We use EVERYTHING we get to it's fullest potential like a delivery box or food produce container - these quickly become excellent for DIY, Home Storage and Organising and Food Preservation! 2) Find new ways to use something more than once - could a cloth pinned to your broom dust your walls and ceiling? Could a cloth wrapped around your broom mop your floor? Can water you boiled eggs with be used to heat you in a hot water bottle and then later used to wash your dishes or water your plants or clean your floor? 3) Grow crops by gathering seeds and cuttings from produce. 4) Find what's good to forage in your area by paying attention to trees and plants around you - free plant finder apps can help. 5) When clothes wear out think about what use they could have to you OTHER than a cleaning rag! Could the hole in the sleeves be patched? Could the hole be made a feature? Could I make the sleeves shorter or alter the garment in some way? Could I save this fabric for patching or repairing future garments? Could this become fabric yarn, a rug or a basket? Could I sell those things? Could I compost it? 6) Find creative ways to repair things - our freezer drawer front cracked off after many years of stress cracking and eventually needed replacing. A new drawer with front would be over £100 but as the drawer was fine, I sewed a reinforced fabric panel that my Husband glued and screwed around the body. Now we have a perfect drawer front that gives us slightly more room too! 7) Seek professional help when needed - we recently had to do this for our stovetop kettle which cost us £12 1 year ago and we love. The welds holding the handle in place failed and we had to track down a specialist welder because of the very fine detail work needed. He repaired and improved it for less money than it would cost to replace. We have done this for several other household items and it has saved us a ton of money and a ton if waste. 8) Learn to repair but don't kit yourself out too much - we all need some tools but certain things we need would only be used once in a blue moon and would cost us far too much to buy. As a compromise, we do what we can with what we have and take what we need to the people with the tool we don't have and pay a small fee or bribe them with Baked goods! 9) Plan ahead for gifting - when we see family, we give cards and gifts to save on postage. We are all happy to wait, even if the event is missed! 10) One man's trash... - if you see something you need in a skip or outside someone's house or has bee fly tipped or is at the local tip, ask who you think the owner would be if you can have it (if owner can be found) and take it. We have done this multiple times, taking great care to find the owner and never to steal. We also never take anything that we don't have an immediate need for! 11) Haggle - don't be ashamed or embarrassed! Haggling forms the basis of Universal Consumer Law and is how we have always traded. If you don't ask, you don't get xx

We always take water with us in the car wherever we go. Keeps us from going through a drive through for drinks when we are thirsty.

We call our old towels "Dog towels " . We use them for different purposes but they work great for dog cleaning and such. 😊

My tips: 1. 50/50 white vinegar and water as a cleaner for most surfaces, especially the sinks and shower. 2. Home-made deodorant: equal quantities of coconut oil (I would never eat it as it clogs your arteries), corn starch and baking soda. Mix well, add essential oil for fragrance. Apply after the shower. I store it in one of those tiny condiment jars you get in hotels. It costs pennies and a small jar lasts for several months. Works like a charm.

YES ! i certainly do wash the ziplock bags and pick up pennies x

I make a solution with white vinegar and pine needles. I let it sit for a month or so and drain it. This is my window solution. I wipe the windows with the free newspaper we get every week. I make fire starters with lint, pinecones, and old wax from spent candles. I line dry my ziplocks. I line dry clothes inside in the winter and outside in the summer. I use hydrogen peroxide for stains. This removes stains very well. Zote soap and chalk also do an amazing job on stains. I save butter wrappers to grease pans before baking. I buy in bulk from Azure Standard. I compost, garden, can, freeze, and ferment. Our garden has supplied 95% of our veggies. We have laying hens and are doing meat chickens this summer. We live in a surburban, older neighborhood in Northern Colorado and I am just entering my 40s. Many of our neighbors are original to the neighborhood and tell me I remind them of their mom by my old fashioned practices. I just own it. I can do weird very well and I LOVE it!

We have L.E.D strips along our ceiling and patio and it's hooked up to a car battery... no cost lighting 🤣.

I wash my ziplocks!!! I also reuse the bread bags and Re-use any plastic containers and glass jars. My milk and coffee containers are reused for planting my veggie seedlings. I regrow green onions on my windowsill and freeze any leftover food that I know won’t be eaten. I probably would be divorced if I didn’t buy at least one bag of potato chips!! Lol We replaced all our bulbs with those... 🤔 can’t remember the name lol. We use candles in the evening. I make mine with beeswax. (I put them in the glass jars I save). We use ceiling fans and a dehumidifier in the summer. Sorry guys!! I seemed to go on and on!

If you are crazy move over! I was raised with most of these ideas. My parents went through the depression and my hubby and I decided I would be a stay at home mom. We have a little container with money off the street, no disposable diapers when I had kids. An adult before I knew there was tooth paste. Hubby and I are retired and live very comfortably just on S S, I used to make my own soap but noticed over time things were fading. I was a young mom when Amy Daczyn became popular and learned a lot from her and an older sister with 6 kids! Loved saying I do! I do! while watching this video.

basically, I have done everything and I see u have done it too! so u r really expert! 1. my best suggestion is not to be impulsive to think several times and several days or more before buying something. 2. dont buy rubbish. live minimalism. I dont buy rubbish like decorations to fill my home. 3. before buying something you need, think, do I have something at home that I can adapt it to do the same thing (e.g., plates, boxes, etc).. the benefits are beyond frugality ... rather I dont gather extra stuff around me this way! so I live quite lean because of this

My bf used wood pallets to make planters for a garden.

My husband gets free pallets from work. He has made me a book case, recycling centre and containers for home grown herbs.

I think that my comment might surprise you a liittle bit. At the moment I really like your content and I feel that you are an amazing couple. However i started watching your videos not becouse of a content but becouse I m trying to improve my English and I noticed that you (Hope) have a very nice and clear accent/pronaunciation and you use a lot of idioms which adds colours to your way of speaking !. So best wishes from Poland Warsaw and BIG thank you

Make a 3-sided enclosure with your pallets, with chicken wire stapled onto them, for a perfect compost pile.

North Central Massachusetts, used to be Dec 1 before we had to turn on the heat, wonder here the global warming is as we turn it on in October now. I use rags from clothing for as much as possible and kitchen towels for cleaning up, instead of paper towels. Found money and soda and beer can deposits (5 cents in Mass.) are put aside to prepay the mortgage principle.Any money prepaid on the mortgage saves interest. I ALWAYS thenk my Dad (an angel now) for the money!

I camp quite a bit and have found that I can bring my solar lamps inside and use them for almost all my lighting needs. In the morning, before I go to work, I set the solar lights by windows and the sliding glass door. By night, they are ready to go again. Also, I live on the 3rd floor of a condo building. The little old lady below me keeps her heat high. Even here in North Dakota I am able to leave my baseboard heaters turned off nearly all winter. There are a few days I have to turn them on, but not many! I also make my own laundry soap, toothpaste, deodorant, face and body moisturizer, order homemade bar soap from my friend, and often wash and moisturize my hair with ingredients from my kitchen. While it doesn't save me money, I pay a student who attends my school for their farm fresh eggs (better for my health, helps her earn money, and doesn't increase my budget). I try to avoid using ziplock bags, tinfoil, and cling wrap all together, but I did buy a package of each of those items when I moved into my condo 3 1/2 years ago.....I still have over 50% of all that was purchased. The ziplock bags get washed out until they no longer zip, but I surprised myself with the little use of tinfoil and clingwrap. I just tell myself to always try and see if I have something reusable I could use. Usually, those supplies get used when I'm bringing a dish to someone else's house to share.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who washed their ziplock bags. I have bags that I've used for 10 times or more! We also wash lightly used tin foil to use again. I also love to make bread, mostly in the cooler months. I also boil down the chicken carcass to make the best broth for homemade chicken soup. Love your tips!

Sounds gross to most people. I am a dumpster diver.Aldis throws so many fruit and vegetables away every day. I use judgment and the smell test. Save hundreds of dollars in groceries. Today there was a thermometer, a cast iron pat and a small sewing machine, all were NEW IN BOX from Aldi

Homemade laundry soap: 80 grams of aleppo soap, 80 grams washing soda. I also add 2 spoons of baking soda and 1/3 cup of vinegar. We all have very sensitive skin and only with this laundry soap our skin doesnt itch. The vinegar and baking soda keeps the washing machine clean and also cleans the pipes . Vinegar keeps the fabric soft also. Greets from Belgium 😉

I live in the desert of Arizona where we have extremely hard water, full of minerals. Traditional detergents do not work well in my experience, let alone homemade laundry soap. After some experimentation, I found an inexpensive alternative: one TBS of borax, one TBS of washing soda and 1 TBS of *powder* All free detergent. I fill the fabric softener dispenser with one TBS of plain vinegar. I do use a warm wash, as it seems to clean the clothing better in our machine.

My grandmother always washed baggies, aluminum foil, and such out. I invested in the silicon reusable kind. For covering food (plastic or aluminum) I found that often you don’t need to cover some things at all, especially if it’s just overnight or so in the fridge, so I just stopped buying a lot of those products. For craziest ... my husband and I lived in a 90sq ft place to pay super super cheap rent. Now that I’m a home owner I’m saving all my paper scraps and am going to shred and make into the fire logs to burn this coming winter. Can’t wait to see how it works!

We got our couch on the side of the road! Lol it stayed outside and it was all unzipped and washed and deodorizer with baking soda and vacuumed before it was allowed in

I re-use baggies. I use plastic coated wire hangers to make racks to dry them on. I've always reused bread bags. When we were kids my mom put them on our feet to go play in the snow. We didn't have snow boots. When towels got to looking bad I cut them up, serged the edges, and made wash clothes. I used cloth diapers and homemade cloth wipes. I am always finding ways to reuse things.

I used to live in Buffalo New York. Friends and I would compete to see who could wait the longest to turn on the heat. One girl said she waited till it snowed -- late October. Another said she waited until snow stayed. I won -- I waited until after Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving that turkey roasting and pies baking warmed the kitchen and that's where all the action was that day so I waited till the day after to turn the furnace on.

I loved using cloth diapers! I think they made pottie training easier because your child can feel when they are wet.

Pennies from heaven add up! I think of my Dad every time I find one.

Nooooo! I am snacking on Mike & Ike’s as I watch this! Absolutely zero anything of nutritional value but I love them! 😂😂😂

I love that old video with the car wash. Priceless.

I loved this one! I mentioned this during the chat, but my frugal habit is using cloth toilet paper. When people went nutty over toilet paper last year, as if we would all die without TP, I thought to myself, "I used cloth wipes on all of the kids when they were babies, why not now?" So I cut up an old sheet and use that (for #1 only).

I fed my four children on the same food as us, just put in the blender. I just took care to add any salt for the adults once they had been served, the little ones got salt free!

Hope, I put my homemade bread in a (saved) brown paper bag first and then in a bread bag. Keeps my bread moist but it doesn't mold.

Can you show us how you make your bread?

We have ground our grains for 40 years. Grinding grain is an economical way to get more flour for less cost, plus nothing compares to the wonderful fresh taste when baking bread products.

Yes..I have reused zip-locs for years. And I make "plarn" out of grocery plastic bags and bread bags and crochet rugs for small areas.

I started being more aware of what I was doing as I used things like paper towels and toilet paper. I realized I was using twice as much as I really needed for each time. You cannot imagine what a difference it makes in saving money when you make yourself aware of your actions. I also use cloth towels more on things in place of the paper towels. The less messy stuff for the cloth ones and paper for the disgusting messes. We are also slowly replacing lights with LED as they need replacing.

I reuse the thick cereal bags to freeze my poultry, love it.

My daughter thinks I'm an escapee from a hippie commune! My crazy ways started with laundry soap, my biggest money saver -- 1/2 cup each of borax, washing soda and blue Dawn dishwashing soap in a gallon of very hot water. I use an empty vinegar jug, add the dry ingredients first, add some hot water and shake vigorously to dissolve the particulates. Then I add more hot water and shake. When I'm close to the top of the jug, I add the Dawn and just toggle it gently to avoid suds-overflow -- takes no more than 5 minutes to make. This is the very best laundry soap I have ever used, 1/2 cup for top loading machines, 1/4 cup for high efficiency washers. I calculated the cost when I first started using it several years ago; 58 cents a gallon, as opposed to $20 for a gallon of Tide. The cost might have changed in the years since then, but the performance hasn't.

Wait! I forgot something. This one is for you Larry! When I do my ‘cash envelopes’, all change at the end of the week is then put in a jar (recycled jar 😆)

Take junk mail envelopes, turn inside out and reuse. Use blank envelopes inside mail and use.

Omg! The clip of y’all washing the car in 1988!!! So cute!

Cloth diapering my little girl, and I'm just now getting into canning food for preservation! That's partly to help storing bulk buys of food and partly to hedge against potential power outages. I use vinegar and water for cleaner but since I just got some oranges (for free! from a family member) I'll be adding the peels to that vinegar :) thanks for the tips!!

For the wood pallets-we lived in a rental out in the country with a basement that got wet so we used the wood pallets to raise up our washer, dryer and freezer to keep them out of the moisture and prevent rust and water damage. It had a sump pump but the water has to get high enough to set it off. It was a cheap rental and we saved plenty of $ for a down payment on our house!

Three ways we have been frugal this past year is number one, we cut out buying coffee. We drink hot tea, and are using a tea kettle! It was quite an adjustment, but when we do get the occasional cup of coffee, it is oh so good! For example at the car dealership this morning when we had our car worked on, we received a free cup of coffee whilst we were there. That leads into number two, we gave away our flatscreen television set, no tv in our home now! So at the car dealership,it was a real treat watching the tv! Number three, we started getting free white buckets(food grade) from the local Mennonite store. I store all my beans,lentils and rice etc. in these buckets. I write on the front with a sharpie what is inside each bucket! And we are starting the $100 monthly grocery spending challenge for this month, wish us luck!

We use cut up old sheets and washcloths for "paper towels" and just wash & reuse. That's probably the weirdest thing we do. Cloth diapers and wipes get looks, but that's not uncommon. Using a price book when grocery shopping gets the eyeballs but it's not really extreme. I think people just feel it's tedious. We don't shop for clothes hardly ever and when tshirts wear out they have a stepdown ladder, dust cloths, cleaning cloth, paint cloth, shop cloth. We do wash and reuse *some* ziploc bags. We also have reusable "ziploc" bags. We have reusable sippy bags for smoothies, applesauce etc. I buy produce right before it goes bad for a steal and blanche or steam and freeze it.

I use the same mix for washing clothes. I mix powder with hot water before adding to machine as a liquid. Then once a month I use one tablet of washing machine cleaner.

My friend made friends with a nearby butcher. He gives us pig fat, livers, hearts, kidneys and bones. Yesterday, she brought me probably 100 lbs of beef suet alone, huge soup bones (some with a bunch of meat on them. Roasts really), a liver (do you know how big a cow liver is?!? Huge!), a heart and kidney. The butcher usually throws this stuff away. 😳 So today, I'm rendering lard and suet, and making bone broth. All this to say, I always take the generosity of others, even if I'm just passing it on to someone else, and I do some crazy stuff from scratch. The lard is great for cooking and the tallow ill use to make soap and candles.

I have also saved small soap scraps snd made them into liquid hand soap using a great recipe from Clark Howard. I made a quilt top from old clothes. I use old clothes cut up for rags. I’ve used scraps of fabric to make hair scrunchies. I cut bamboo from my backyard to make stakes for plants. I cut grapevine from my yard for a wreath. I’ve dried flowers to make my own potpourri and pictures and notecards. I’ve had shoes resoled. I use white flour cloths for paper towels. I use cloth napkins. We make in sun tea.

Always be on the lookout for extremely marked down items that would make nice gifts and buy, even in bulk. My closet serves as my 'store' and I am never caught off-guard by needing something last minute to take as a gift (whether it be birthday, housewarming, dinner invitation etc.) and having the time, stress and overspending of last minute shopping eliminated by having gifts available in my 'store'.

My favorite cleaning cloth is the single use, lint free, sterile towels used in medical clinics/hospitals. I save them from being thrown away, take them home and wash them. They are the BEST cleaning cloths.

I wash and reuse my ziplocks.Not just for economy but to reduce the amount of plastic I consume. I put my home made bread crumbs in an empty bread bag and freeze them.

1. I make my own laundry detergent. Costs $18 lasts 6 months. 2. Make my own senior dog food 3. Take my dog to “discount” vet. 4. Track every penny. 5. Share streaming services. 6. Thrift everything 7. Cut my husbands hair 8. My husband checks the grocery store trash for vegetables and fruit (works) 9. Hang dry cloths year around 10. Homemade pizza dough for delicious pizza.

We cut down our lawn by 70% and replaced it with drought tolerant grass and it takes very little water and looks beautiful. We ditched our AC and got a swamp cooler. We even had vents put in every room and we cool the whole house for the equivalent of 100 watt light bulb. Thanks to you I save all my vegetable scraps and make vegetable stock out of it and it's wonderful and used to be garbage! I grow my own garden and Save On Water by using drip irrigation. Yes I wash Ziplocs I have a cool little baggie dryer that I found on Amazon. It hangs from the bottom of a shelf and has little dowels that stick up to hang the baggies on

I have brushed my teeth with baking soda, sometimes borax, just a natural salt. sometimes milk of magnesia, one that doesn’t contain bleach. All work really well

I had a roll of plastic wrap for so many years that my sister in-law thought I was CRAZY. 😂I was sparing in my use and re-used 😂. I still can't discard plastic. Wash and re use. 💜🙏🤗😇💜

most might have heard the notion that "time is money" well one crazy way I save money is going shopping and or doing errands super early in the morning. I am an early riser around 4/4:30/5 am at the latest. Especially also because of Covid, I do my shopping when my husband and toddler are still asleep. Since time is money, I shop, sans curious/constantly requesting at whim toddler, and stick to my list while almost no one else is in the store... it's also easier this way to focus on sales, coupons, stick to my list and to focus on calculating price per ounce when my family is not with me and when there are literally very few others in the store during this time. I also then have ample time to scour the back clearance shelves and to check freshness dates on needed items including milk and fresh flowers, etc. I highly recommend doing groceries at super early morning hours as well as things like car washes, getting gas, cleaning out your car etc. as it saves your TIME... and your time is valuable, imo!

used kirk's castille and zote soaps ground up together for washing, never had an issue with build ups, found I can get dreft with coupons now for so little I just use that.

I try to make snacks with healthy versions of junk food. That way I don't feel deprived. Home made veggie chips with dip made from homemade yogurt, homemade cheese spread on crackers, switchel instead of soda and oatmeal cookies with dried fruit and nuts and caramel corn made with honey are my favorites.

A few years ago when me and my partner were forced to live mega minimally, amongst other things we used to flush our toilet using old washing up water and used bathwater, although I managed to flush some cutlery once 🤣

I also reuse ziplock bags and make my own detergent. I only have to make it twice a year and saves my time and money 💰. A weird thing I do is about every 8weeks I take a can of air and blow from the back of my refrigerator on the coils to keep them clean and dust/pet hair free. Also change the air filters out every month. Living with a German Sheppard is hairy business 🐶😆

It's odd to me some don't care for saving a penny I see one I pick it up. I was talking about this & my co workers were like I dont use pennies & gave them to me. Over two years I have rolled almost $40 just in pennies!

We had a tall decorative glass jar on our mantle where we put pennies. When it was filled, we dumped it on the living room rug and checked every single one for collectibles and counted and rolled them. It would come out to $80+ and we’d go out to dinner(after turning in the pennies at the bank of course).