Frugal hacks at home to help make ends meet
Posted
Feb 25 2008, 10:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Count on Lynnae at Being Frugal to assemble a comprehensive list of money-saving tips for the home and garden. Her "75 frugal hacks for your home" includes lots of great information on home maintenance and improvement, including a number we hadn't heard before and definitely need to incorporate into our routine.
"The cost of living is going up, and oftentimes salaries aren't going up to meet those costs," she writes. "In response to the money crunch, ordinary people like you and me need to cut costs to make ends meet."
Dirty miniblinds? Put an old sock on your hand, dampen it with rubbing alcohol and then run your hand along the blinds. Lime deposits clogging up the showerhead? Tie a plastic bag filled with vinegar around it for an hour "and you should be good to go," Lynnae says.
Rubbing pencil lead on your key will fix a sticking lock. Reuse dryer sheets to dust your electronics. "For painting small areas," Lynnae writes, "check paint stores for returned custom-color paints. They'll often sell them at a steep discount." Likewise, buy a remnant from a carpet store to serve as an area rug.
Want to cut spending on utilities? Shorten your showers and turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth. Get a free energy audit from your power company. (We did, and got a tremendous discount on a programmable thermostat.) You don't have to wash your clothes every time you wear them (or your bath towels after every use). "I'm not talking about being disgusting here," Lynnae writes, "but many people throw clothing in the laundry after each use, whether it's dirty or not."
