1. I cloth diaper (making my own saves me even more than buying from off the internet and in stores) some of my diapers are made from old sheets, shirts, sweaters, blankets and scrap material. This saves me an average of $60-80 a month. I also use my own homemade babywipes made out of scrap pieces of flannel material or old wash cloths.
2. we do not buy paper towels nor napkins that often (dh and his friend sneaks in a roll from time to time) I use kitchen hand towels. Also coffee filters helps with streaks when towel won't work (it is rare but some times I need to) I make my own napkins.
3. I make some of my cleaning products. I have a bottle of water and bleach, a bottle of vinegar and water, some times make a scrubbing soultion(sp?) of dishsoap(hand) and baking soda, use vinegar in laundry and in dishwasher, my mop uses dishsoap instead of floor cleaners (
http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp...entPage=search ) it is also machine washable
i also own a Scunnci steam cleaner which helps cut back on cleaning products.
4. I make my own liquid hand soap from bars of soap shreaded up and added water.
5. I reuse bottles from soda, juice, milk, and water and fill them back up with water so we have water for walks.
6. I run the washer in the middle of the night to hit non peak hrs on electric. I also am using just the cold/cold cycle on all my loads. Also make sure there is a FULL load.
7. I hand/machine sew some of my children's clothing (mostly pjs but still saves), blankets, curtains, and odds and ends.
8. I own a bagless vacuum. Now no worries about running out of bags nor having to run to walmart cause they were the only ones who sold the bags to my old vacuum.
9. We are limiting electric usage. Turning off lights when leaving a room plus leaving most lights off during the day and opening curtains to use natural lighting. we also have the tv off 90% of the day (nothing really on we don't have cable/satalight(sp?))
10. I try to hand wash dishes when I can and just use the dishwasher as a drying rack.
11. I LOVE to bake. I try to keep some treats made for snacking that way ppl are not in and out of the my fridge which uses electric up and my food bill does not go way up.
12. I buy in bulk. The bigger the container the better. Even though I have a large family I find that if separate like meats and freeze them it last longer. Cereal is a must in bulk kids go threw it too fast. Syrup lasts A LONG time. baking items are WAY cheaper. And so on......
13. I am trying out making my own condiments. I already make tartar sauce (taste just like what you buy in store but I also am still using store bought mayo for this). I am learning to make mayo and salad dressing right now. Debating if I want to try making my own ketcup and mustard.
14. I am buying my ink for my printer off the internet saving me ALOT. Someone did say beware on it back firing and leaking ink all over but I have not had the problem just yet so we will stick with it for now.
15. I use a digital camera. I choose which pictures stay and what go and I choose which get printed or just stay on disk. I also watch for those 5+ free prints places offer
16. I use rechargable batteries. My digital camera just eats batteries right up but with rechargables they last along time. Plus ugh kids' toys eat them too. I spend maybe $20 on rechargables and they last me a yr and half.
17. I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) this saves us child care costs since my dh's schedule is NUTS he works days, nights, and weekends so there is no time for me to work with 4 kids. Plus I babysit so I get a small income from doing that(I am home anyway why not LOL) so I do all the cleaning and so on so no hired help LOL