I was just wondering what some of your favorite tightwad (money saving) tactics are?

I like to make homemade chocolate syrup (just like Hershey's for pennies an ounce). I tried a new one today. I had to replace the vacuum cleaner bag. It looked so nice still ( my vacuum takes the cloth type bags). I slit the bottom open with my knife and emptied it. Then I folded the end over and stapled it back together. It worked great!

I'm very interested to hear what has worked for you!

-- Denise (jphammock@msn.com), February 11, 2001

Answers

I have all wood floors. I have one of those mops that you can replace the mop head. Instead of buying a new mop head, I put old socks in it, about 5. It makes a very soft mop, and works good. Plus we always have so many stretched out socks. On the regular mop heads, the little nails in the floor always pull out strings and I spent more time picking up little strings than I did moping.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), February 12, 2001.

Hubby calls me the tightwad queen! Says I'm so tight I squeek when I walk :o). The only clothing I buy new is bra's and underwear. Everything else is 2nd hand. I don't buy anything from the grocery store unless it is on sale..and preferably I have a coupon too. I've actually caught shampoo on sale and with a coupon it cost 2 cents! I can get at least 2 uses out of water. First I wash clothes in the wringer washer and then used the dirty water to flush with or water the garden. We use wood heat. Hubby bought an electric heater. He keeps plugging it in and I keep unplugging it. Don't wanna pay extra on the electric. Put on another sweater! I can fix or build most anything. Scavaging is great. I get a lot of building supplies that way. I'm sure there is a lot more stuff I do but I've done it for so long now it seems normal :o). There is almost always an alternative or a cheaper way to do anything.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), February 12, 2001.

Wouldn't know where to begin, other than things we have learned from this forum, Countryside magazine and the Tightwad Gazette newsletter and book series.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 12, 2001.

Amanda stole my title!!! I'm telling....my husband thinks if I got any tighter that I would get rid of him. No way, he's my maintanence man!!! That is unless I can figure it out for myself. We may not always look pretty here, but hey, we built a barn big enough to house a very good sized goat dairy herd, all our hay,feed and some rabbits for $150.00. Most everything but some roofing was recyled. We have about $3,500 into our equipment and make all our own hay, and a great deal of our feeds. Duct tape, binder twine, and baling wire:can't beat them.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 12, 2001.

But Jay which ones work for you? For instance I dont think I'll make a hammock or volleyball net out of the plastic that holds pop cans together!But I've made some of the recipes from the Tightwad Gazette and found them very good and cheap (tuna chowder and pizza casserole come to mind). I read in the magazine about how you got your computer set up so I know you can be more specific! Oh come on and tell us a good tip!

-- Denise (jphammock@msn.com), February 12, 2001.

You probably already do most of these but here goes! Heat with wood - it's warmer anyways. Hang out wash-it smells better. Food we buy in quantity only when it's on sale. We only spend $50 a week to feed our family of 6, this includes paper products too. You'd be surprised how many grocery store/drug store managers will give you a price break if you offer to buy a case or two or more of a product. My husband is a champion at that. Bake our bread and cook from scratch as much as possible. Garden (duh!). Buy clothes and many other things at yard sales. Because of the drought and the water level in our well being so low we also wash some clothes by hand and save our bath water to flush toilets with. Almost forgot, although our wood heater is not a "cook"stove it still works for heating most things and making soup and other such things. There's probably much more but that's a start.

-- Deena Johnston (DeenaJohnston@aol.com), February 12, 2001.

I darn my socks. It's a lost art, I suppose, but I can't stand holes, and the way they make socks today, it doesn't take long to make a hole. xxxxxxx The ryobi 10" planer makes it possible to recycle pallets into some gorgeous wood for crafts. xxxxxxxx When we sold our second Hereford, the pasture was empty. Patti agreed to keep the goats in the upper pasture, and I planted silver queen corn in the lower, where the cows had been. I never saw such stalks in my life! Thick! 2 1/2" at the bottom, and many stalks had two ears of the most delicious corn... Five feet away, in the regular garden area, the corn was much shorter, smaller, less green... Yeah, even manure is a great recyclable item. xxxxxxxx When we finish using one of those 55 gallon drums, we saw it in two, lengthwise, bolt the ends together, and have a six foot long campfire pit. Then on a cool evening, invite some city folks out for marshmallows, or dough-boys on a stick (my favorite), and sing-a-long songs.

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 12, 2001.

I am a big fan of once-a-month cooking. I have one set of recipes for chicken and another for hamburger, and I watch the sales and use coupons. Two days and $100 later I have a freezer full of enough meals to feed myself and DH for two months.

I only use half as much liquid laundry soap as what the label calls for. My clothes still come out just as clean and best of all they don't have that awful purfumey laundry soap smell.

I make my own hot cocoa mix using a recipe I got here on the forum. I brought a big tub of it into work and everyone loves it.

My biggest money saving tip was getting rid of all of my credit cards. They just made it too easy to spend foolishly. I have one card tucked away for emergencies, but I now try to operate on a cash only basis as much as possible. I have a Visa debit card that takes the money straight out of my checking account so I can still pay for my gas at the pump and things like that. Sherri in IN

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), February 12, 2001.

I have not chcked these sights but some of you might. FreeGifts4Kids.Com FreeGifts4Students.Com tightwadtess.com

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), February 12, 2001.

I mix an egg in with cheaper dog food to add real protein and add gloss to coats while saving $*I save things like onion skins, ends of veggies, trimmed parts of meat in the freezer until I have anough to simmer it for several hours and then freeze the broth to flavor soups, rice, pasta, and etc*I go to free sample links and sign up for coupons and freebies (man, thers a lot of places that really do send stuff)*we paruse salvation army and DAV weekly for "new" clothes, and hit loads of garage sales*I made friends with a mom who has one child 6 monthes older than my daughter, and another a year behind her, so she "loans" her bigger outgrown clothes to me, than I pass on Ruths outgrown stuff for little daughter (new and old things picked up), I suppose I'll get them when her little one outgrows them, in case I have more babies*I mix dry milk for cooking receipes*I save seeds from year to year, and only start what I'm going to plant, makes a pack of seeds last 3-7 years*I check alleys locally at move out times (college town) for furniture and stuff that I can use, pass on, or sale at my own yard sale!* I watch the backs of fast food places (trash area) for the 4gallon clear plastic oil containers, which make great tomatoe, pepper, eggplant, and melon protectors in early season once you cut a whole in the bottom to fit over the plants (leave a lip to pile dirt or stone into for stability)*by the use of a no water composting toilet, we get flower fertilizer, and save on water usage*I order presriptions (like clairiton and birth control pills) through the mail, and save 40% over the pharmacy down the road.

Peace

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), February 12, 2001.

We are the queen and king of cheap. We buy rolled oats in fifty pound bags for breakfast. Now where do we get that size oats, at the horse feed store. Just put a cup of the oats in a pan add water the chaff will float to the top, pour the chaff in to the compost container and boil the oats for 10 to 15 minutes. Same as the store variety just cost about 4 cents for both of us breakfast. Add the cost of a couple of spoons of brown sugar and a cup of coffee. Breakfast for under 30 cents for two. As for the safety of the horse feed can you imagine the trouble you would be in if you poisoned some ones horse. You would be better off if you did in a person.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), February 13, 2001.

Been thinking about this question some more. The most important thing I learned from the Tightwad Gazette was to look at how little of something it takes to actually do the job. For instance, toothpaste. Do you really need to fill your brush with it or does most of it go down the drain? Do you really need to have the water running the whole time? I've tried to take this concept and use it in all different situations. My teenagers aren't fond of it but that's too bad. Speaking of toothpaste, many of us just get in the habit of using a certain brand. During my last pregnancy I became allergic to all the toothpaste brands except ultrabrite which I had never tried before. I was thrilled to find that it is much cheaper then any other brand, under a dollar everywhere here.

-- Deena Johnston (DeenaJohnston@aol.com), February 13, 2001.

Ooh, you've just asked about one of my favorite hobbies. I'm so cheap that all my friends claim my money is rusty! (Not sure they mean it as a compliment, but I proudly accept it as such!). Too many tightwad tips to list, but here are some current favorites: When working on out of town jobs, I stay in pretty nice hotels- client's choice, not mine. Room rates avg.$200-250 per night, which is great except that the restaurant prices are correspondingly high. To save money, I carry packets of instant oatmeal purchased on sale for .10-.20 each. We always have a coffee/tea service, provided by the client onsite, so I have tea and oatmeal for a really cheap breakfast, while my colleagues are spending $15 on theirs. (I'll have to look into the 50 lb bag deal). Before I quit candy and sodas, I would NEVER use the hotel vending machines near my room. If I had failed to bring snacks from home I would go down to the hotel employee dining area and use their vending machines- cheaper by about half. I consider scavanging an art form- last week I sent three 14' corrugated alum. roofing panels back to Orlando from a show in Dallas on another company's truck. Had to borrow a truck to get it across the street to my company's shop- now have to figure out how to get it the 70 miles home to Tampa. But gosh, it will provide roofs for a bunch of my new chicken tractors. Another thing I do at hotels is scavange coffee grounds for my worm bins- right now I have about 50 lbs of grounds in a box downstairs in the ballroom. Can't wait to get them home.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), February 14, 2001.

Cindy, if you have so many stretched out sox maybe you outta change brands! It would seem to be more cost-effective. You could also use rubberbands to hold them up. The mop idea is great. One can also cut them open through the worn part as they make perfect dish rags.

-- Sandy Davis (smd2@netzero.net), February 14, 2001.

David,

Another good place for bulk purchase of staples is an Amish grocery store. Check around your area to see if you have one. The Mrs and I buy all our flour, suger, oats, rice, etc in 50lb bags from an Amish grocer and it costs almost nothing compared to the regular grocer. True, we have to rebag it but, we have to do that anyway before we put it in its long term storage containers. I get huge bags of beans (I cant remember lb size) from them too that I cant find elsewhere and they always have commercial/institutional size canned goods that I cant find elsewhere. Needless to say they always have on hand plenty of canning supplies and such.

-- William in WI (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), February 14, 2001.

Now I'm feeling a lot better about that doggie bed I'm making for my German shepherd. Decided time to clean out the basement of a bunch of "things-that-may-still-be-useful". I found 3 old pillows that I was debating about throwing out. Then found a bagfull of sewing scraps. Decided to take the foam bits out of the pillows and wash them, and mix them with the sewing scraps. Had a chunk of material saved from another project, sewed it into the main pillow. Also found material taken from an old box bed frame, making a slip cover out of that. Just waiting for the foam bits to dry out, and can stuff the pillow. (It's about 2.5 feet x 4.5 ft.)

As for generally being cheap, much of our house is furnished from yard sales. Hubby is the King of Bargainers, never pays the price they're asking, always manages to wrangle a better deal. We've got some pretty good finds, like brand new still in the package blankets, even an electric blanket, brand new, for a few bucks. Lady bought it,tried it once, tripped over the cord in the morning, put it back in the package and out on the sale.

Several times a year we stock up on things that come on sale. The big jars of coffee we use are usually 5.29/jar, recently a store had them on sale for 1.99/jar. We got a year's supply. Even for my art class I can't help but be cheap. Wash off the styrofoam plates that various foods come packaged in, use those for pallettes. We had a still life assignment for our first class, now that that's been graded and handed back, I painted it over with gesso, going to use the art board for another project. (Still life wasn't something I wanted to keep.) There's probably dozens of other examples in our household, but I think I've typed enough for this session!

-Chelsea

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), February 14, 2001.

Some of the most simple things are the easiest ways to save money...

I try to hang out my clothes instead of using the clothes drier...but when it rained or we were in hurry it was TOO EASY to just throw the clothes in and push that button! So about two weeks ago the drier's motor konked out! Husband is a handyman and can fix it but I've been telling him not to install a new motor. If it doesn't run, we won't use it!

So naturally it has rained and rained all week and I really HAVE to wash his work clothes after he's sweated in them all day...so I've been washing them and then hanging them on hangings in the pantry/cat's litter box room and so they dry there...

We've been getting better at salvaging things too! We've had an extra storm door on our carport for two months that we didn't need. We could have sold it but son's best friend's family is fixing up an older house and it just fit, so we gave it to them! We can't help folks much monetarily so something like this makes us FEEL GOOD!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), February 15, 2001.

Hi, Just wanted to add to make brown sugar, just use regular sugar and add a tablespoon of molasses to 2 cups sugar. Beth(NC)

-- Beth (NC) (craig@icu2.net), February 15, 2001.

One of my best finds ever was the Cinese grocery store. Lbs. of dried shitake for almost nothing, spices (the regular ones and some more exotic, like anise stars) at the same prices that "real" stores charge for beans and rice. Beans and rice even cheaper, with a huge selection (never knew there were so many types (not brands) of rice). Also a wide assortment of just plain off the wall odds and ends, strange condiments (and the normal ones, el cheapo), plus "high- end" health foods like miso at rock bottom rates. Tea is also cheap and plentiful.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), February 15, 2001.

I noticed the great prices on "specialty" foods at the asian grocery too! Fabulous! Nori sheets at less than half the price of the healthfood stores. Love the mop idea..how do you do it again? I have lots of old socks I can use and a floor that needs moppin'!!!

-- Alison in Nova Scotia (aproteau@istar.ca), February 16, 2001.

Hi Dennise, I guess you've gotten a lot responses and hope you don't mind one more. We have a small dog that we have to tie up at night or if we'll be gone afor a few hours and sometimes our floor is cold because that cellar stove isn't burning, so I made her adog bed. Took an old worn childs sweatshirt and cut it open. next I sewed together two hand towels for each side. Sewed the towels together to make them look like a pillow case. Put the shirt inside and sewed shut. Whenever it gets dirty wash it with the scatter ruggs. The ruggs are made from scraps of double knit cloth. Can find lots of this stuff everywhere. People do not like wearing it!! Cut them into strips and crochet them togethr to make round rugs or square ones. We had a parrot once, (she is gone because of her noise!!) But I needed a cage for her whe nwe did have her. I priced all the parrot cages. $350 to$1000. !!!!!! No way, So I looked around and found a nice sized travel cage made from heavy wire, metal slide out cleaning tray. It was for dogs, but worked great for the parrot until she figured out how to open it. THen we had to use a lock on the door. Cage cost $75. We now have cockatiels in a home made cage that is 4 fee by 2 fet by 3 feet. cost was less than $40. The sale of 1 baby will pay for the cage. Our small barn that we housed 7 cows in was free except for th roofing on 1 side. The materials were all used from a pervious building. If you have girls and they want the designer loook on their clothes, go into the cloth department of th store and get sew on embrodered patches. You can design the clothes the way they they would like. We even bought a used computer. We did buy a new printer but the whole thing cost only $700. We also buy used cars and trucks. No new editions here. They usually are 8 to 10 yrs old before we buy them. Runn em til they die. There are so many places you can save money and time its hard to mention them all. Good luck on yourr endevors.

-- michelle (tsjheath@ainop.com), February 16, 2001.

I love all the ideas! Keep them coming! I not only like to save money but it is also a neat challenge! I really like the Tightwad Gazette. It is also enjoyable to see what has worked for all of you. I have saved so much money just from buying in bulk and cooking from scratch. This may seem like an obvious one but I just started reusing feed bags as garbage bags. I don't know why I didn't think of it before.

We built our chicken coops from all salvaged stuff from hubby's work.That felt real good!

Keep those ideas coming! This is fun!

-- Denise (jphammock@msn.com), February 16, 2001.

Michelle, we recycle vehicles, also. (but it sure beats that monthly payment). Also, I had a ford pickup for several years. Bought another one of the same year. Used it for a parts truck. (In the USAF they used to refer to them as 'hangar queens'). Paid 400 for it. Swapped out about 400 in used parts off of it. Then sold it for 250. Everybody's happy. Now we recently bought a second family van. Same year and model as the previous family van, which was falling apart around us. Except for the mirror, tires, starter, etc... (are you gettin' the idea?) Also, in reference to doing your own mechanic work: We weigh the cost diff. between someone else doing a specialized job, versus us buying the specialty tool to do the job ourselves. If the price is not that far off, go with option B. At least we end up with another tool. (Of course we are selective ... only jobs that we feel CONFIDENT toward. Last year it was a head gasket/manifold gasket mess we had to sweat over, but I drove it today, same as ever. Denise, we reuse the vacuum bag like you all the time, but we just sit down and pick out all the trash. Can't see the buck and a quarter thrown in the trash, when you could just pliers out the problem... PRESTO! No problem.

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 17, 2001.

A lot of what we do has already been mentioned such as using less of an item like toothpaste, shampoo, laundry soap. The idea of seeing how little it takes to get the job done.

I buy some things in bulk...5 gal bucket of laundry powder, 5lbs of honey for about $6, 20 qt box powdered milk for $7-8. All that is at Sam's. The only thing I don't like though is the questionable origins of the honey. I could probably get local honey real cheap by buying a whole 5 gal bucket of it but I don't want that much at once.

We have a Rainbow vac. so I don't have to worry about bags. We talked the guy way down on the price and got lots of accessories when we bought the thing.

We trash pick. I like getting old rugs to lay in the garden as mulch. They are great for starting new beds or extending the garden. Just lay it down. Leave it till the next year and Voila'...no grass underneath. Just dirt and it is easy to turn because the worms have been all through it.

Tightwading is not just about saving money it's about saving time as well. Tied in with that is being a good steward of what God has given us. Fixing broken things instead of pitching them, but being discerning about when not to bother fixing it. The disposability of computers has really bothered me.

We bought a "crate furniture" couch because it has the type of cushions on it I could cover easily if need be. Then just recently we found a matching crate furn. love seat and chair for $75 for the pair at a used furn. shop. We traded in an old desk chair we had trash picked and got more off the furniture.

We recently bought 3 twin size down comforters and needed covers for them. At the Mission store, I found 5 nice quality full size flannel sheets and substituted a nice percal sheet for the 6th one and made my own covers. The colors for each pair coordinated perfectly.

I also found Corelle dishes to match mine at the Mission Store. They were less than a dollar a piece. Have you priced those at Walmart? I can add to my set without subtracting so much from my pocket.

Want to add plants to your yard but are short on cash or just a tightwad with it? Try rooting things from cuttings off someone else's plants. Many plants are very easy to root...forsythia will root if you just stick a twig of it in the ground. So will Butterfly bush and hydrangeas plus many others.

Our county landfill has free mulch. When we take recyclables in, I carry as many 5 gal buckets as will fit in the trunk of the car and make the trip count for more. (That's another tightwad point...don't go to town for just one thing.) While at the dump, we check the swap shop for usable items and turn in aluminum cans (scrounged) for cash. We are not within city limits so we don't have to pay for garbage service if we don't want it. Garbage service here, last I knew, costs about $45 for a 3 month period. It can cost as little as $5 to go once a month to the landfill where we live. By the time we've recycled things, burned some paper trash, and purchased groceries wisely there just isn't that much trash. I know there are those out there that generate virtually no trash and I applaud you.

Another thing about the dump...around here the county gives a coupon for a free trip to the dump with the tax bill. We have friends who own property but subscribe to trash pickup and don't need the coupon. Guess who gets the coupon?

We use Charmin for blowing noses (purchased on sale of course) and Scott tissue bought up on sale when less than .50 per roll. We'll buy almost a year's supply when we find a good sale. We could go one step further on nose tissues and have everybody use hankies that can be washed.

Speaking of toilet paper...we subscribe to the "if it's brown, flush it down...if it yellow, let it mellow" method of operation for toilet flushing.

'nuff said.

-- Heather in MD (heathergorden@hotmail.com), February 20, 2001.

My contribution is about keeping warm. We live in a very old, very draafty farmhouse and I keep the thermometer at 63 to save wood. To keep warm I buy very heavy sweats. During the day, I am cool but not uncomfortable unless I sit down to sew or am on the computer. I found that putting on an old T-shirt over the sweats provides me with enough additional warmth. It is easier than wearing it underneath cause I can easily slip it off if I am too warm.

-- Ardie from WI (a6203@hotmail.com), February 21, 2001.