How to Save Money Around the Home
1. Winter Ways
Buy and install a wood stove in your basement. If you live in suburbs or the edge of town, scour the area for free wood. Your heating bill will amount to zero dollars, even in the midst of winter. Wood is free, if collected from people who are willing to get rid of it. If you need money for something specific, take the average amount you’d put toward heat and put it toward that debt, trip or bill every month!
2. Part-Time Jobs
Another way to save money within this difficult economy is to look for a part-time job that you can do from home, after hours. If you are lucky enough to still have a full-time job, you can come home, put your children to sleep and then spend a couple of hours on the internet and make those extra few dollars to pay for the gas or electricity bill. Or, this could be your spending money, so you can put all of your real income into necessities (talk about motivation). If the part-time job you land is easy, you could even get to the point where you can do it while watching movies or the game. If you have a slow season or hour-long lunch at your day job, you could use this time to earn even more money 🙂
3. Free-Lancing
Get involved with advertising, marketing, journalism on a free-lance basis. It can be done anytime of the day or night. Rewards can be lucrative, once you get yourself established. For those of you who are very proficient with the computers, it can very well replace your current income and even exceed your expectations.
4. Food Banks
A very simple way to save money is to get involved with your local food bank. Anyone is welcome and anyone is given the opportunity to acquire the food they need. There are no questions asked and the food is there to take. All they need from you is the willingness to give back in the future if you are ever in a position to do so.
5. Be Thrifty & Crafty
Always be on the look out for ways to save money on little things. What conveniences do you enjoy that you don’t even realize? It is all about being able to save money and still live a quality life. For example, don’t dry your laundry in the dryer, hang it on a rope outside during the summer or your basement during the winter. Do dishes by hand. Wash your car yourself. There are countless other ways you can save money in this same spirit.
6. Compost
If you have a green thumb and aren’t afraid of a little work, rake your leaves and put it in a pile in the corner of your property. It will create great compost within just a few months and make your grass and flower beds flourish, without any expense at all. You can also use old coffee grounds for the same purpose. After you’ve got a garden set up, grow your veggies – you’ll be set for months!
7. Scrimp
Collect your soap scrapings and put them in a sock or stocking. Use it as a loofa for bath or showers, none of it will ever go to waste and it will last longer than you think. You can use old orange rinds for air fresheners. Baking soda or sugar can be used for exfoliant. Vinegar can be a great stain remover. Google “5 uses for _____” and insert whatever you have an excess of. You can save tons!
8. Recycle
Collect all cans and plastic bottles. Each is worth five cents. Collect enough and you will end up with about thirty dollars a month of extra money to put towards your other bills.
9. Piggy Banks
Collect all of your daily change and you will end up with an extra 30-60 dollars towards your credit card, mortgage or car payment. Or, save up for longer and use it for a trip larger expenditure, like a computer.
