10 Ways We’ve Tweaked Our Lifestyle to Save Money
The Federal Reserve says there is not enough inflation. Rosa and I disagree. We have seen ongoing price increases for those items we purchase and consume regularly such as food and household products. While the Federal Reserve attempts to pump up inflation by further lowering long term interest rates, we are fighting inflation by making some minor adjustments to our lifestyle:
- We are using stick margarine (66¢/lb) for everything except spreading margarine on toast, bread, rolls, muffins, etc. For spreading, we use the soft margarine ($1.12/lb). We used to use soft margarine for everything.
- Instead of dumping the coffee from the drip basket after brewing a pot of coffee, we add half again as many fresh grounds to the used ones and brew another pot. This cuts the cost of coffee usage by 25%. That second pot of coffee ain’t bad, either.
- We extend mouthwash by diluting it with water and hydrogen peroxide. Our dentist recommended this to produce a more effective mouthwash. Here’s the formula the dentist gave us: 1 part mouthwash, 1 part water, 1 part hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is about half the price per ounce of the store brand mouthwash. This cuts the cost of mouthwash by 50%.
- We make a second cup of tea from a single tea bag. This reduces our cost for tea by 50%. We only reuse bags from premium teas. The bags of green tea we buy at 100 for a dollar will only brew one cup per bag. No surprise there.
- We use toilet paper instead of facial tissue. I have allergies and a deviated septum; I use a ton of facial tissue. Facial tissue costs .65¢ per tissue. Toilet paper (2 ply, quilted) costs .1236¢ per square. We use two squares for one facial tissue. This saves us 60% on facial tissue. We make facial tissue available for our guests, of course.
- We switched from paper napkins to cloth napkins. This saves us 100% of the cost of paper napkins. We throw the cloth napkins in with the regular wash of towels so there is no additional cost to clean them.
- We cut those fabric softener sheets that are used in the dryer in half. The results of using just half a sheet per load are satisfactory for us. We save 50% on the cost of fabric softener sheets.
- We substituted fold over sandwich bags for zip lock sandwich bags and reduced our cost by 71%. Zip lock bags cost 2.25¢ each. Fold over sandwich bags cost .65¢ each. We primarily use sandwich bags to freeze prepared food in individual servings, so the zip lock feature is of no particular advantage to us.
- We are stretching our meat dollar by making soups. A relatively small amount of meat can make a whole lot of soup (with the addition of vegetables and potatoes, rice, beans, or pasta, of course).
- We save 50% on instant hot chocolate and chai mix by using half the directed amount of mix per serving. The result, while not as rich as that achieved by using the full directed amount, is satisfying for us, nevertheless.
We still realize the bulk of our cost reduction through the use of our main money saving strategies: buy on sale and stock up, the use of store brands, unit cost comparison, and menus built around sale items. The tweaks listed above provide additional savings in times, such as these, when our income is going down and prices are going up. We’ll be on the lookout for more tweaks as prices continue to increase.
Have you made any tweaks to your lifestyle to fight inflation or to adjust to a reduction in income?
I buy facial tissue at the end of the school supply sales. This year I got a year worth of tissue for under $5.00 at Target.
Actually, I watch Target carefully. Just before they close out a season they sell everything left for 75 or even 90% off. We got all of the children’s costumes- new- for under four dollars this year. Crayons, paper, hangers, small fridges (college supplies) all at huge savings if you watch that “back corner”. My daughter got a beautiful wooden patio set for about $50!
Replace your fabric softener with a tennis ball- works well:>) fabric sheets have a bit of paraffin on them anyway and are not that great for the dryer in the long run (from what the repair man says)
Use the peels of your citrus to get rid of bugs and small rodents- they hate the smell of citrus zest. Simple Green is made of it.
Sorry- I love my butter and will not give it up. That is one area I will only save on IF I am completely broke!
Great article!
Does that tennis ball fabric softener go by the name of Bounce? Rosa and I will have to check out the Target clearance items. I didn’t realize they offered closeout bargains like that.
Thanks for contributing your tweaks.
The tennis ball is an actual tennis ball.
[...] you like a way to substantially reduce your cost of living virtually overnight? Here it is: Quit paying for convenience. Wash and wax your car. Clean [...]
[...] of us, income hasn’t kept up with inflation—if we’re lucky enough to have income. We’ve adjusted by cutting back or cutting out certain expenses. We’re doing what we can to stretch our dollars and make ends [...]
[...] your cash flow. Where can you cut your expenses to increase cash flow? Can you cancel, without penalty, any subscriptions or memberships that [...]
[...] resolving to save more, you automatically commit to spending less of the money you make or to making more money, or both. That’s the only way you will have [...]
[...] “Beware little expenses; A small leak will sink a great ship…” [...]
[...] Tweaks: The tweaks we implemented a few months ago to deal with inflation are habits now and continue to save us money even though the prices of some of the alternate products have risen. For example, stick margarine has increased from 66 cents a pound to 88 cents a pound, but it still saves us money over using the spreadable kind that comes in a tub. [...]
[...] the last two years, I have shared with you in various blog posts some of the steps we have taken to reduce spending. Here are the latest adjustments we have made to our lifestyle to help contain [...]