When I was younger, I used to think that my mom was living on a different planet than the rest of the world due to her money saving habits. From personal care to the food in the house; she always had some crazy money saving idea that the rest of the family was forced to abide by. Now that I am older and hopefully a little bit wiser, mom’s ideas don’t seem so outlandish anymore. Matter of fact, I have even started using some of her out of this world money saving tips myself.
Shampoo and Conditioner
With three girls in the family, the shampoo and conditioner tab ran pretty high when I was younger. In order to save a few dollars every month, my mom started filling the shampoo and conditioner bottles with water once they were half empty. I used to roll my eyes every time she did this, but the times have changed. I now fill the bottles back up with water when they reach half empty as well. When it comes down to it, my hair feels just as clean after using the water diluted solution as it does when I use it full strength and I save a few dollars every month.
Canning
When I was very young, canning was a fun and exciting time. I had quite a fascination with popping the canning lids in and out as I sat there waiting for the jars to be filled. As I got older however, my urge to help and the fascination with the canning lids started to fade. With kids of my own now, I have recently revisited the world of canning and I am astounded at how much money I save. I can everything from salsa to preserves and vegetables and I rarely have to buy canned items at the store anymore. To get the best prices, I buy all of my produce that I am going to use for canning at local farmers markets and I buy in bulk. As for my canning supplies, most of them have been purchased for a few dollars at yard sales or flea markets. Canning is a great money saving solution and you can keep certain foods on hand for years.
Buying Generic
What would my friends think if they saw generic cereal in my house? That was my typical teenage thought every single time that my mom purchased generic items at the grocery store. Maybe it was just my teenage taste buds, but I was certain that generic tasted awful compared to brand name foods. My adult taste buds are luckily much more mature and they have realized that most generic foods taste the same as the brand name foods.
Mom’s ideas may have seemed crazy to me when I was a child, but they have taught me ways to save money now that I am an adult. I think we can all learn money saving tips just by looking at what our parents and grandparents used to do.
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Try to find out how much you have actually spent on dining out and having lunch with your family when you could have saved money by cooking food in your kitchen.