Comments on: Ways that we saved in 2007

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:20:04 +0000

For jeans, which our family has quite a bit of, I bought some clasp hangers. The one that you flip the hook over and it opens the clasp. I take the jeans directly out of the dryer and smooth them out and hang them directly in each person’s closet. They air dry in there just fine. Usually by the end of the day they are dry.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:15:04 +0000

Another option is to fry your bacon in the oven or microwave. In the oven I use the roaster pan and then put a cookie cooling rack in that and lay the bacon on the cooling rack. Then your bacon grease drips down and doesn’t stay on the bacon. There are lots of covered cooking racks to microwave bacon too, that keep the bacon up out of the grease. I have heard that instead of using multiple layers of paper towels you can just lay down one paper towel on a stack of old newspapers to drain the grease too.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:29:17 +0000

I use this simple rack from Amazon. I would recommend having two, if possible, depending on the size of your family. We just have one and it doesn't really cut it. I also hang a clothes line in our hallway and in one of our bathrooms that is rarely used. Although I have come to realize over this past year while comparing electric bills that hanging your clothing really does not save very much money. It is better for the environment but not a significant savings for the time involved. I hang about one load a week now.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:11:34 +0000

What sort of rack do you use to dry your clothes?? I debate air drying, but am not sure how to go about it.

By: Misty

Misty — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:37:51 +0000

I noticed you wrote CFL’s as a money saving method. We too were using CFL’s throughout our entire house. My husband started researching them and got really freaked out over the danger they pose as they contain mercury vapors. It is thought that they actually release vapors while in use. If broken, they pose serious risk to those around. And you have to dispose of them as a hazardous material. I fear what will happen when we start dumping these in our landfills. You may want to research this on your own. We got rid of ours as soon as possible and have chosen to be extra extra careful about leaving lights on.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:51:14 +0000

My parents use cloth napkins and cloth dish towels, but they do keep one roll of paper towels on hand for draining bacon. Obviously, one roll lasts them a looong time.

By: mom2fur

mom2fur — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:54:11 +0000

I’ve been trying to switch to cloth napkins. You are right–they’re so much nicer. Recently, I found a bundled pile of cotton (not terry) dishtowels on the clearance rack at Target. There were maybe 5, in different colors. They were ridiculously HUGE. So I cut them in fours, hemmed the raw edges, and got about 20 nice napkins for practically free!

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:38:45 +0000

Jessica,

Making your own cleaning supplies and body products is actually quite simple (it blew me away!). Follow the links in my post above and you will find all the recipes I have made and am continuing to experiment with. I haven’t done it all, but we are in process. You can also follow the category link natural living on a budget to find all my posts on the topic of making my own recipes.

Hope that helps!

Lindsay

By: Tia

Tia — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:30:22 +0000

Oh ok!! That would make sense Lindsay!!

Thanks for clarifying.

By: Vickie@PursuingSimplicity

Vickie@PursuingSimplicity — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 05:39:12 +0000

Great list! We have begun to switch out our light bulbs to CFL’s too. I have noticed a huge difference in a few small things that have really added up to great savings.
Blessings,
Vickie@PursuingSimplicity