I started wondering about people's secret thrift habits when I was combining leftover cereal this afternoon from three separate almost-empty cereal boxes.
As you can see, I probably got at least another two servings out of those boxes!
Combining cereal is probably not super-weird on its own. But then I went outside and spread the leftover shredded wheat bits as impromptu birdseed, and I thought that might qualify.
Other things I've done over the years to save money include:
- deliberately saving leftovers from nice restaurants to use in meals later (for example, the thin-cut seasoned french fries at J. Alexander's make AMAZING egg and potato breakfast tacos!)
- learning to make homemade microwave popcorn
- learning to make homemade liquid hand soap
- reusing gift bags and giftwrapped boxes (my mom taught me this one -- she actually just re-used the same giftwrapped boxes for Christmas each year and taped them shut!)
- saving free samples to make or add to gift baskets at the holidays
- selling old junk around the house for cash
Share your weird, strange, or secret thrifty habits, and enter to win a $10 Target gift card! Just follow the prompts in the Rafflecopter widget below.
The contest will run through Sunday, August 4, and I'll contact the winner on Monday, August 5. I'll also compile my favorite responses and publish them in a future post, so watch for that as well.
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The strangest thing I've doneto save money was ordered the Tena adult underwear coupons, that's not too strange, but I did it to get milk, toilet paper and paper towels :) this week I used (4) of those coupons and (2) tena pad coupons. My boyfriend said I.was addicted as he tried pulling the laptop away at 3am lol
ReplyDeleteHe was singing a different song yesterday as we walked out of CVS with $185 worth of items we needed paying nothing not even ecbs or gift cards. And I earned 40 ecbs plus they emailed 3more when I got home hehe I'm coupon crazy lately :)
I reuse Christmas boxes ALL the time! I never thought it was weird, though! LOL
ReplyDeleteWe also have Survivor week in our house. For one week, I only restock milk but we have to make all meals for the week with stuff we already have in the fridge/freezer/pantry. It definitely helps with the grocery budget!
I used to cook all my meals for the week at once in the oven to save on the gas bill (and time). Got the idea from my grandma. she would bake 4 loaves of bread at once to save on gas and then freeze the bread.
ReplyDeleteI save the hot sauce packs from taco bell to use for home made taco salads at a later date.
I never buy soy sauce. We always get tons of packages when we order in. I save them all and when a recipe calls for soy sauce I use the packages.
I call my cable company every 3 to 4 months to check on new promotions and keep a discounted rate.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I am guilty of a few that you do. I have had a mix of lucky charms, chex, and raisin bran before to try to mix left over cereal lol.
When I go out to eat, I ALWAYS bring a doggie bag home and make a few meals out of that. The best are places like Maggianos, where you can order a pasta dish and they automatically give you another of your choice from their list to take home... so not only do I have my left overs already but a WHOLE other dish as well!
I am very guilty about re-using gift bags and even the nice bows wrapped around a gift, sometimes I carfully slide the bow off the box and keep the same box so I know I can rewrap for the same look! I have used free items that I have gotten and gifted them and sadly enough, there have been times where I have received nice gifts but kept them wrapped or split them apart to make other gifts to save money.
Also guilty for re-using aluminum foil and coffee in the coffee maker.
I have pitched in and split the cost of outfits to share between my sister and I.
Sometimes if I want a massage, I will go to the massage school to get a discounted one.
I actually jumped in my dumpster when I realized I threw a $10 RR away...of course it was in the summer and the garbage man came the previous day and it was at the bottom!
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is weird, but it is certainly thrifty ... I vinegar wash all my produce before putting it in the frige. This makes it last at least another week, which saves me money because I don't throw any out for being old or moldy or something.
ReplyDeleteIf I am at someone's house or at work functions and I see Coke products with coke points I ask if I can have them. I haven't been told no yet. :-) Some people now bring me there's from home.
ReplyDeleteI'm a rebag user. No shame there, and I have regifted.
I am loving the garage sale sites popping up on facebook. I have made lots of extra cash that way over the last couple of months.
I reuse zip loc bags , wash out and hang to dry and reuse them. I also reuse bread bags, for left overs.
ReplyDeleteWhen I cook meat, I split it for 2 dinners. Example cook a whole chicken eat on it 1st nite with side dishes. 2nd nite make home made chicken noodles, with the rest of the chicken. When we eat pizza, I save all left over pizza crust, and next day heat up crust and cut into small bite size, for like crutions for a salad. Hamburger stew / is a big $ saver and so good. For breckfast I mix egg omelet fixings in a bowl and bake in muffin pan, pop out and freeze, that makes for a good grab and go brekfast , just reheat in microwave. I use clothes pins to close like chip bags and such. Toilet paper / I only buy Scott 1000 sheets or 1000 sheets off brand, after 22 years of marriage I have learned this is the cheapest way to go and it lasts the longest.
We save all plastic bags we get...the bags in cereal boxes, bread bags, the bags our newspapers are delivered in, essentially every plastic bag...and use them to take out the cat box yuckies.
ReplyDeletewe unplug every single appliance when its not being used tvs, game systems, coffee pot, etc.... well everything except for the stove and frig but we were told even though we ma not be using them that they are still using electricity.
ReplyDeleteCombined like cereal or chips for more storage space, taken freebies from friends and family members, save boxes from Amazon/other mailings to use for Christmas gifts (easier to wrap a rectangle or square shape), save/reuse gift bags (Christmas, birthday, etc), asked others for their Coke codes and extra coupons, taken the 'free' papers (like the Light or whatever the others are) off of other driveways to get extra coupons...but only after they have been laying there for a few days (obviously they do not want them at that point).
ReplyDeleteI do most of the above things, but in addition I also keep plastic containers from pretzels, licorice, etc to put my flour, sugars and other dry ingredients to keep them sealed and fresh. It also keeps my cupboards organized without having to buy expensive containers. I keep all my newspapers to clean my windows and mirrors, saves on paper towels and does a better job. I use baby wipes with a cleaner to clean my kitchen, one a day rinsed throughout the day, saves me from the stinky washrag and spreading germs. I also save spaghetti sauce jars and paint the lids, then I use them as gift jars for cookie mixes and apple pie moonshine, saves me from having to buy mason jars. Toilet paper rolls work great for cords, rather than wrap the cord around the appliance, you fold and place in the tube, no more tangles and twists. Since doing this I have saved a lot of money on curling irons and hairdryers alone :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this is weird or just cheap of me, but if gas prices are up then I wont turn on the a/c in my car unless my son is in the car...even if it is 110 degrees in the car. I feel like I save money that way :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I purchase EVERYTHING on my credit card so that at the end of the month I can figure out if I spent more then the previous month. And I'm able to get a free vacation by the rewards on my credit card. I pay my credit card off at the end of each month so that I don't have intrest charges on it. Its a great way to track all charges and get a free vacation.
I do a lot of weird things I guess.. lets see... I will rinse out ziplock baggies ~dollar store brand of course~ to use again.. unless it had something gross in it. I also wash out butter containers and use instead of buying tupperware. When I do go to a restaurant and get soup, I put all of the crackers in my diaper bag and the kids have peanut butter on those crackers as snacks at home. I could go on and on and on.. lol I am VERY frugal!!!!!!
ReplyDeletejenk73005@aol.com
Jen Kirchoff
First of all I'd like to say that I've learned a lot of good stuff just from reading all these comments! :)
ReplyDeleteI've tried lots of stuff to save money but not sure how many (if any) would be considered 'weird' but here goes.
1. I've combined milk leftovers even if one is whole and the other is skim.
2. There's a large hill by my house and my car works really hard to get up it so I avoid that route whenever possible to conserve gas.
3. When buying clearance merchandise I always ask the cashier if they can go even lower on the price and about 50% of the time I get an extra 10-20% off. This works very well at Ross and Home Depot/Lowes.
4. I really take advantage of HEB's "Fresh or Free" program. Sometimes I really have to dig for out of date products (and have caught some interesting looks) but I've ended up doing quite well on some trips. :)
5. Shred the old newspaper for Guinea Pig bedding instead of buying it.
6. I also wash out ziplocks and reuse jars and containers that food/condiments come in.
7. My husband and I pull an all nighter on Black Friday every year and I price match every chance I get. My daughter's birthday is in February so I usually get all her big stuff at a fraction of the price it would be in Feb. I've also been able to score good stuff for my son even though his birthday is in July.
8. One of my biggest money saving tips is that I have my budget laid out on an excel spreadsheet and refresh is with every paycheck so I know just what I have every two weeks. This really helps keep our spending in check.
9. And last but not least, I outed myself on my quirky money saving habits on your blog to score a gift card! hahaha
Erica Vogel
evogelrealtor@gmail.com
I always ask if a place has a student discount being a student I really have to stretch my budget.I was really surprised the majority of places do. It never hurts to ask!
ReplyDeleteI tried to enter the sweepstakes, but I was not able to leave my comment. So my weirdest and cheapest tip would have to be that I use toothpaste for my daughter's acne problem. I had run out of the expensive acne cream so in desperation we tried honey, chapstick and then toothpaste. Honey and chapstick didn't work, but the toothpaste worked better than the cream did. My daughter's face is cleared up and looking great and I am able to save a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteWhen my shampoo bottle starts to get low and hard to get out, I had a little water and just use a little extra of the diluted shampoo.
ReplyDeleteI reuse to go containers for my guest to take leftovers from dinner nights at my house. I don't have to worry that my good containers are not returned or lost.
ReplyDeleteI also do several of the things above. This one I got from my Dad who was raised as a poor farm boy and could squeeze a dollar.
ReplyDeleteI have never bought Tupperware or any other brand containers. The ones I have were either gifts or hand-me-downs. I save lunch meat containers, butter containers, cool whip bowls, etc. My first cat ate and drank out of coolwhip bowls his whole 15 years. I use them to pack hubby's lunch. If I don't get them back...no biggie. I also use cake and pie trays and cookie tins from items bought and ordered over the past year for my Christmas baking that I give as gifts. Why buy an extra container when there is a perfectly good one that comes with the food you already purchased?
Amy Copeland Farmer
Most recently, my daughters went shopping without me and did not realize that I had a $20 off $50 coupon for the store they went to that would be expiring very soon. They had already worn part of the clothes, so I took them back in, made them rebuy everything exactly as they had done a few days previous and we used the coupon (a couple of things were actually on sale so they had to buy one additional item to make up the difference). The next day we took back all of the new items that had not been taken out of the bag with the original receipt (minus the one additional thing they were able to keep)and got their original $59 back and only paid $31 after taxes.
ReplyDeleteWell, Lately it has been leaving out air on 79 so we don't use it "as" much as we normally do. I rarely buy anything new. Always garage sales or thrift shops. More or less is buying about 300 boxes of Ky Jelly due to it being overage at the commissary . Hopefully no one looks in my garage. They will think we are some freaks
ReplyDeleteAutumnsharp08@yahoo.com
I don't think I do anything too weird to save money, I don't have as much time as I used to. :(
ReplyDeleteStacy
I cancelled my cable. I watch every thing online. I found a site that plays live tv steams so I dont miss The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad etc...If I miss the episode I know a site that puts the show up the next day . Also watch my other shows on the network websites. I watch local news on my tv. I somehow only get one station. Nancys.iphone@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteWhen i take vacation to the east coast i take coupons and will hit up stores that offer the double/triple coupons. i have always reused sandwich bags, (i do wash them out w/bleach water) and my family asks if they can have a whole napkin to theirselves. They are so used to me tearing it in 1/2.
ReplyDeleteI too could not leave my comment above. One of the things I find myself doing is reusing the Victoria Secret tissue paper that comes with my clothes. It's usually in great condition.
ReplyDeleteWe buy the ham that comes in plastic tubs and don't even think of paying for storage containers
ReplyDeleteLeidy R - rafflecopter
neiddyruiz@gmail.com
I don't know if this is weird, but I think it is extremely cheap. lol I save the "Tupperware" that lunchmeat comes in and I use them to pack leftovers. Real Tupperware is so expensive!
ReplyDeleteI also rinse out laundry bottles once they are empty. I rinse them and pour the soapy water into the washing machine to get one last load worth of soap.
I will also cut open lotion bottles. Drives my husband nuts. haha! I cut the bottle in half with industrial scissors so that I can scoop the lotion out of the bottom. There's usually 2 or more uses worth in the bottom.
I'm beginning to wonder....should I be embarrassed about this??!?!?
I buy the bear containers that have animal crackers all the time so when we're done with them we save the containers for cereal, cookies, & other snacks. (:
ReplyDelete