Which items you don't buy anymore?

[cptacek]

Curtains. I go to the$1 table at Walmart and find some nice fabric and make my own. Of course, you have to go to that table every time you go to Walmart, cause most of the fabric is ugly, but you can find some that fits your needs.

My company prints out a cover sheet every time you print anything. So, I take the ones with my name on them home, cut them into quarters and staple them together for notes and such.

I don't buy Kleenex. Toilet paper works just as well, and luckily I don't have allergies and don't get sick much, so my nose doesn't need to be too pampered.

[lrjohnson]

cpatek: I put TP rolls in the short squat tissue boxes. I got a tissue box as a gift once, don't ask, and have re-used it maybe 15 times. Lift the flaps carefully to make an opening in the side. Take a TP roll, and pull the cardboard out of the middle. Stick it in the box and glue/tape down. Pull out from the middle of the roll. Works perfectly. Since then I have let people know I accept empty tissue boxes. I only need two donations a year to keep my desk at work and bedside table happy. I'm a simple woman with simple needs, I guess.

I stopped buying cards for my kids. They just open them and throw them down. They are more interested in the present or money.So I quit buying cards on holidays. They don't care and I save money! We both win.

[meenah]

i also dont buy cards. when i was planning my wedding (that didnt happen) 4 years ago i got 6 packages of printer-card card stock. 4 large half fold and 2 smaller quarter fold cards for about $1 each package. my grandma got buy one get one free set of gel pens a few years ago and gave me a set. i spend a few minutes drawing a card. a simple swirly heart for a wedding or valentines. and a heartfelt personal message inside. i am slightly artisitc but anyone can draw an off center heart add some little hearts and swirlies and call it designer. i also like my hole punches and scrapbooking scissors for the edges, (or to punch out a mistake) people love my homemade cards and i havent even opened the 2nd set of boxes of each kind.
oh and with the quarter fold ones i cut them on the crease spot (make 2x as many) and have some large gift tags without envelopes.
< my mom did this for her wedding and just bought an extra set of envelopes. >

[meenah]

ialso have bought very few cleaning supplies in the last year, a friend of mine moved from oregon to florida and didnt want to move a bunch of partial bottles of cleaning supplies. i aslo got some food from her as well... including a box of kosher salt. i used itwhen my salt canister was gone. just dont sprinkle as much and i cant tell the differance.

[getforfree]

I don't buy cake mix, I make it from scratch now. I have green onion in my garden all year round.

My DH used to stop at the fast food, cause he likes the french fries, but now we bought deep fryer, so I make my own. I peel the potatoes and cut it to look like fries and fry it. I takes like 3 -potatoes to make large size fries which costs like $2 (not sure). So if my cost is 30c for potatoes and 10c for the oil, I save more than $1.50 every time. It paid off for itself within 12 servings. The first 2 days we ate lots of fries, then maybe twice a week.

[funnyvalentine]

I don't send christmas cards anymore, and the adult cards i send (yes, I don't do kids anymore because as someone mentioned, they just don't care that much about them) are all from Jaqui Lawson's site. It cost 8.00 or something per year but it's well worth it; the cards are gorgeous.

Celia

[rob62521]

I don't buy magazines or books. My DH works for the library and guess who checks them out and brings the stuff home! It was great when I was going to grad school and needed books and articles for my papers!

[cschin4]

Things I don't buy:

haircuts for my kids - I bought Wahl clippers and do it myself. I tried grooming the dog but didn't have much luck with that! But, I do have the dog trimmed very short which cuts down on grooming and I bathe her myself in between.

DVDs, CD's, magazines - We use the library. I don't buy CD's, just listen to the radio instead.

TV dinners/frozen dinners - I bought some containers with divided compartments. When I cook, any leftovers go in there and are frozen for TV dinners.

Household cleaners - I used to buy way too many. Now, I only buy a few concentrated things and mix with water in a spray bottle. So, I use Murphy's Oil soap for wood, general cleaning, bleach for the bathroom, and PineSol for other cleaning. I don't buy Swiffer things anymore either. Just use a mop and bucket instead!

Car washes - I do it at home myself.

Diapers - We are finally done with those! I have 3 kids and it is nice not to buy those or other "baby things".

Pop - When we go out to eat, I generally just get water. Or, if we go through the drive-thru, I get meals with no pop. We just go home to eat.

[funnyvalentine]

I don't ever buy cd's anymore; i stream from www.stationripper...

[funnyvalentine]

I also don't buy jewelry anymore, i make my own....

[Duchesse]

Since I began sampling I don't buy deodorant or shampoo any longer.

[getforfree]

Me neither. I love free samples.

[Countrygal]

I dont buy
Popsicles(make my own)
Daughters haircuts(do it myself)
Dog grooming(do it myself)
Any junk food
Baked goods-We dont eat alot of these and so occasionly I make them
Some cleaners-just arent necessary when you can buy borax/vinegar/baking soda for alot less

[simpleselu]

I don't buy paper towels, paper napkins, shampoo, conditioner, laundry booster, windex, Comet, fabric softener, canned soups, boxed/canned stock or broth, toothpaste (free with coupons), and bottled water (out of principle).

[StressLess]

Amazing how advanced some of you are with this. I feel like a mere tot.

I know it's been over a year since I bought a new book. (Did just pay around $20 for an old cookbook on Ebay, though.)

CD-Rs. Last package I got was free from Office Depot. Now that I have the MP3 player, I doubt if I'll ever have to buy any again. I'm using it to transport data as well as audio stuff--very convenient at work.

I've started cutting DH's hair with Wahl clippers, as other people have mentioned. He seems happy with the results, so I'll continue.

Cookies. More for diet reasons than to save money. I decided if I really want cookies, I have to go through the bother of baking them myself. The idea is, I'll eat fewer cookies through sheer laziness.

I don't buy bottled water except seltzer once in awhile. At least with that you get flavoring and bubbles!

[Kris10Leigh]

There aren't many things I'd commit to saying I NEVER buy, but I buy many things RARELY!

One thing I would not purchase when my little ones were babies were throw-away bibs! My cloth ones work just fine! And somehow bibs just seem to multiply anyway.

On the RARELY buy items:
haircuts (once every two years for me...DH can trim in between)
cookies
razors (disposables last FOREVER)
nail polish remover (nail polish for that matter)
make-up (Yes, I am a rare female. )
purses (again, rare female. I've had the same purse for 8 years and it pretty much just sits in my car)
bottled water!!!!! I can't say I NEVER buy this, but I take great measures to avoid needing to!

[getforfree]

Originally Posted by Kris10Leigh

There aren't many things I'd commit to saying I NEVER buy, but I buy many things RARELY!

One thing I would not purchase when my little ones were babies were throw-away bibs! My cloth ones work just fine! And somehow bibs just seem to multiply anyway.

On the RARELY buy items:
haircuts (once every two years for me...DH can trim in between)
cookies
razors (disposables last FOREVER)
nail polish remover (nail polish for that matter)
make-up (Yes, I am a rare female. )
purses (again, rare female. I've had the same purse for 8 years and it pretty much just sits in my car)
bottled water!!!!! I can't say I NEVER buy this, but I take great measures to avoid needing to!

You have same some same habits as I do. I hardly ever use any makeup (for special ocasions only), Dh trims my hair, don't do my nails, never pay money for just plain water--it's just reduculuos to pay for water IMO, and I have one purse only, which I never use, but I do use a diaperbug when my kids are with me, otherwise, I just keep everything in my pockets, just like most guys, except that I'm not a guy.

[Koppur]

I don't buy paper plates, napkins, disposable utensils, or disposabable cups. I don't buy cat litter box liners anymore. I don't buy small trash bags for the bedroom & bathroom trash, I recycle the bags I get at the supermarket. I don't buy bottles water anymore; I fill up w/tap water and during the day at work we have a water cooler. I don't buy the newspaper, I get all my new and job hunting done online. I don't pay for highspeed internet - I pay $9.98 a month unlimited access dial-up.

[gotalkmoney]

I'd have to say DVDs. I've realized I only watch the movie once, MAYBE twice and they just sit on the shelf. I'd rather invest the $20 somewhere else