Saving a dime, in time

[RedAlert76]

It is amazing what we think, we need, but don't. Moving from big ole Texas to tiny town Kansas has changed me in many ways.
I have always tried to be frugal best as I can. The only cleaning supplies I ever use is Simple Green,baking soda,vinegar, magic erasers, and hydrogen peroxide. I stopped using paper plates,since only us two, To drain frying foods, use coffee filters,and put it an pie pan.
I use washable paper towels for (Amazon) for so many things. I like these because they wash well, and use them for Kleenex, wipe ups, all types of things. Your can use to drain food but I chose not to because- they are made from recyclable water bottles. They make excellent dish rags or hand towels in kitchen, Mine are plain gray, but they have some now with color and print. They are soft- not to use with fabric softeners, if you want them to absorb well.
Enough of my gibberish,how do try and save a dime in our time.

 

[chic]

I never throw anything away and buy new just because of wear and tear. I know how to mend and I do frequently. There is still a cobblers' shop in my home town for shoe repair although not the one I used as a kid. I've used this one to repair a favorite pair of summer sandals. Footwear is costly so I like to take care of favorite shoes when I can and good shoes are quite expensive now.

This is my bit to economize.

 

[oldman]

You want to be careful if you mix Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide. Mixing these two chemicals together may turn into Peracetic Acid.
Peracetic Acid (PAA) may cause breathing problems. There are other home cleaning supplies that when mixed may cause serious injuries.

 

[MACKTEXAS]

A few things come to mind:

I recently bought a new washer and the appliance salesman told me it was better to use half the liquid detergent that was recommended on the detergent container. I tried that and the clothes came out just as clean.

For a pre-wash clothing treatment (like shirt collars, etc.) I take an old spray bottle and mix about 1 part ammonia with 3 parts water and a tablespoon of liquid dish detergent, shake it up, and it works just as well as spray laundry stain removers that I've purchased in stores.

When eggs can't be found or cost too much, make a cake this way:
1 box cake mix, size 15.25 ounce
3 level tablespoons cornstarch
1½ cups water, or slightly less
½ cup vegetable oil
Mix the ingredients and bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees in a 9X13 glass baking pan that has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray. [I didn't believe that would work, but I tried it and couldn't tell the difference between it and a box cake made with eggs.]

 

[hollydolly]

You want to be careful if you mix Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide. Mixing these two chemicals together may turn into Peracetic Acid.
Peracetic Acid (PAA) may cause breathing problems. There are other home cleaning supplies that when mixed may cause serious injuries.

this is a very good point this is why on all cleaning liquids , at least in the uk.. it will warn against using 2 different cleaners on the one item...

 

[RedAlert76]

You want to be careful if you mix Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide. Mixing these two chemicals together may turn into Peracetic Acid.
Peracetic Acid (PAA) may cause breathing problems. There are other home cleaning supplies that when mixed may cause serious injuries.

Don't worry I would never mix them together

 

[January]

I stopped using paper plates,since only us two,

Were you using paper plates regularly before that for everyday meals?

Ive never known anyone to do that here - only to use them for events like BBQ's or picnics or children's parties.

 

[ChiroDoc]

Were you using paper plates regularly before that for everyday meals?

Ive never known anyone to do that here - only to use them for events like BBQ's or picnics or children's parties.

I'd never use paper plates. But just today I had a guy tell me that his wife buys stacks of thousands of them at the Dollar Store for cheap. Still, I like old fashioned dinner ware.

 

[Jules]

Dawn Power Wash Spray is really highly rated. Allrecipes has a DIY.

13 oz water
4 Tbs Dawn dish detergent (or any other one)
2 Tbs rubbing alcohol

Put all into a spray bottle and use to cut greasy residue.

It’s not a big investment if it doesn’t do as promised.

 

[January]

I'd never use paper plates. But just today I had a guy tell me that his wife buys stacks of thousands of them at the Dollar Store for cheap. Still, I like old fashioned dinner ware.

That seems very wasteful and non environmentally friendly.

 

[smiley]

some people I know claim they have four separate bins outside their home for rubbish collection? getting complex and since the Aisans have stopped talkin a lot of our landfill we will have to dirty our own backyards

 

[January]

Ive not heard of 4.

We have 3 which I think is fairly standard for many places - 1 for rubbish, 1 for recycling, 1 for green waste.

 

[Capt Lightning]

some people I know claim they have four separate bins outside their home for rubbish collection? getting complex and since the Aisans have stopped talkin a lot of our landfill we will have to dirty our own backyards

Don't you? I thought that this was fairly standard. We have 3 large 'wheelie bins' - recyclable, non-recyclable and paper. We also have a small food waste bin. Green waste and glass is not collected here, but there are glass collection and a fabric / clothing collection bins in the village.
We have to dispose of garden waste at the recycling depot in town.

 

[smiley]

responsible citizens - I remember years back driving through Glen Coe is it ? - earie feeling there?

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Ive not heard of 4.

We have 3 which I think is fairly standard for many places - 1 for rubbish, 1 for recycling, 1 for green waste.

We only have 2 bins for pick up. One for everyday trash which is a very small see through bag. The other blue see through bag is for plastic, metal and glass. If it’s broken glass we put it in a container and mark it with a GLASS label.
Compost goes in our compose bin which we use for the garden . Paper gets its own square box. Each week we burn it in a burning can we have out back of our garage. We take our garbage very seriously.
Note: some plastic we keep and take to a place that recycles it and we get money back for those.

 

[Della]

When eggs can't be found or cost too much, make a cake this way:
1 box cake mix, size 15.25 ounce
3 level tablespoons cornstarch
1½ cups water, or slightly less
½ cup vegetable oil
Mix the ingredients and bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees in a 9X13 glass baking pan that has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray. [I didn't believe that would work, but I tried it and couldn't tell the difference between it and a box cake made with eggs.]

Fabulous! I can now make cakes for my son who is vegan and won't eat anything made with eggs.

 

[RedAlert76]

Were you using paper plates regularly before that for everyday meals?

Ive never known anyone to do that here - only to use them for events like BBQ's or picnics or children's parties.

Yes for sandwiches and foods like fried bacon.

 

[RedAlert76]

I aslo use silicone storage bags vs plastic. I love these things.you can put in dishwasher but I don't. A drop of soap add water close bag let it sit for a bit or just shake and then rinse out.
On paper plates, I bought decent ones not the cheap ones,nor plastic ones. As I said though,kind of a waste,so stopped.

 

[Knight]

I'd never use paper plates. But just today I had a guy tell me that his wife buys stacks of thousands of them at the Dollar Store for cheap. Still, I like old fashioned dinner ware.

Bought a pack of 25 to try. Discovered right away paper plates disintegrate in in the dish washer.

Savings come in the form of buying when sales are offering great reduced prices on food that can be frozen. We bought a food storage sealer because the advertising claims & it does work once vacuum sealed what ever is sealed comes out as fresh as the day it was bought. An example about two years ago USDA choice petite sirloin steak was on sale for $2.29 a lb. Now that same steak sells for $7.99 a lb.

 

[RedAlert76]

If anyone is interested in the silicone bags....theses brands are my favorites..because they are easy open and close ! SPLF, Gorilla,Ideal. Ideal ones are are okay but not as easy as the other 2.

 

[Twostep]

I aslo use silicone storage bags vs plastic. I love these things.you can put in dishwasher but I don't. A drop of soap add water close bag let it sit for a bit or just shake and then rinse out.
On paper plates, I bought decent ones not the cheap ones,nor plastic ones. As I said though,kind of a waste,so stopped.

You are probably using more water washing those bags than you are saving. I buy a lot in bulk and freeze in portions. There is no way I would wash game/meat/chicken/fish bags.

I never bought paper plates/cutlery. We have plenty of white plates in square and round. And linnen napkins.

 

[Twostep]

Dawn Power Wash Spray is really highly rated. Allrecipes has a DIY.

13 oz water
4 Tbs Dawn dish detergent (or any other one)
2 Tbs rubbing alcohol

Put all into a spray bottle and use to cut greasy residue.

It’s not a big investment if it doesn’t do as promised.

Dawn comes in various grades. Keep an eye on Amazon for sales. I just got four gallons Platinum dish soup for the price of three. That is easily a year's worth windows, cars, dishes, shop clothes and have not. Works great on outdoor tile!

 

[hollydolly]

Don't you? I thought that this was fairly standard. We have 3 large 'wheelie bins' - recyclable, non-recyclable and paper. We also have a small food waste bin. Green waste and glass is not collected here, but there are glass collection and a fabric / clothing collection bins in the village.
We have to dispose of garden waste at the recycling depot in town.

we also have 3 and a small food waste bin, but as from August we're to get 4 large wheelie bins .... talk about overkill..

I am fortunate that I have a large garden so I can store the large bins. but a huge proportion of the public live in terreced housing with no back gardens.. and the have to place these bins in front of their livingroom windows.. a health hazzard as well as horribly ugly..

 

[Twostep]

we also have 3 and a small food waste bin, but as from August we're to get 4 large wheelie bins .... talk about overkill..

I am fortunate that I have a large garden so I can store the large bins. but a huge proprption oof the public live in terreced hosuing with no back gardens.. and the have to place these bins in front of their livingroom windows.. a health hazzard as well as horribly ugly..

This is gross.