You can buy cleaning products at the Dollar store and they are *real cheap*. You can also buy canned soups, juices, veggies, paper towels, toilet paper and toiletry items there *real cheap*. Another good idea is to use Dr. Bronner's Magic Peppermint castile soap www.drbronner.com in a bottle. You can use it (as Valis mentioned) for body soap, dish soap, toothpaste, laundry soap, shampoo and tire cleaner. Hehhehe. What I do is buy that big ole bottle (a gallon is $14) of the citrus cleaner at the Home Depot. I use it for everything: mopping the floors, cleaning the counters (some dissolved with water in a spray bottle), cleaning the toilet... whatever! Great stuff and is good at getting stains out of clothes and the carpet.
Baking soda is another good cost cutter. Use for heartburn, bee stings, refrigerator deodorizer, bath water and wash water softener, stove top cleaner and soft scrub (use as a paste), white wash whitener, toothpaste,
Like Bisous said: cooking ahead of time and freezing is well worth its weight in TIME saved! Cook on a Sunday and make several large gallon freezer bags of whatever and then pop it in the microwave for a meal. Cut out the pop-tarts, juice boxes, sugary cereals, etc. and get down to the basics. Oatmeal, as pointed out by Sally is a good, nutritious and filling breakfast. Buy a bag of raisins and put a little brown sugar, and they *love* it! My Mother used to make rice and then put milk and raisins and a little sugar. Wonderfully delicious, filling and nutritious breakfast. Make juice from cans. Cook with cheaper cuts of meat and use casseroles with rice, noodles, veggies, cheese and soups to make a large meal from inexpensive items.
Do a little research for your area and find out which fruits/veggies come into season at which time of the year, and these are usually a lot cheaper during that period of time. Use coupons and two-fers on products that you would normally buy!
When I was a single Mother I had to be *really* cheap, and got pretty good at it, if I say so myself. hehehh. I used to be the Salvation Army queen. Now my kid is grown and gone and I can afford to eat in a less budget conscious manner. I like *that*! But for the two of us we usually spend $200 a month (not including eating at restaurants) and still manage to eat pretty well!
Country Girl
