5 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Household Cleaning Budget

Let's face it cleaning products are expensive. Not only that but if you're like me there about a million things you'd rather spend your hard-earned money on than dish soap and toilet bowl cleaner. The good news is it's extremely easy to save tons of money on cleaning products with a little bit of smart shopping and creativity. Let's take a look at five easy ways you can reduce your household cleaning budget so you have money left over for the fun stuff.

1. Stock up on vinegar

One of the most versatile cleaning products that you can have in your arsenal is plain white vinegar. It is incredibly inexpensive and can be used to clean, deodorize and disinfect just about any surface in your home. I would encourage you to learn about all the uses for vinegar in cleaning. I personally use it to clean my kitchen, bathroom, floors, mirrors, windows and appliances. I also use it in the laundry as fabric softener and to remove odors throughout the house. Not only can switching to vinegar dramatically cut your cleaning budget, but it is also eco-friendly and better for your health than using harsher cleaning products and chemicals.

2. Make your own laundry detergent

One of the most expensive cleaning products you use is laundry detergent. You can make your own for a tiny fraction of the cost. Here's a recipe for homemade powdered laundry detergent you can try:

6 cups Borax
4 cups Baking Soda
4 cups Washing Soda (find it in the aisle with the laundry soap)
4 cups Ivory Bar soap (grated)
Mix all ingredients together and store in a sealed tub.
Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.

3. Buy in bulk

If there are cleaning products that you know you're going to use a lot you can save a bunch of money by buying them in bulk. Shop stores like Costco or Sam's Club for items that you use regularly. Just be sure you have enough space to store them.

4. Skip disposable wipes or towels & opt for reusable ones instead.

It is tempting to buy a disposable wipes or paper towels because they are convenient and easy to use. However, over the course of a year they can wind up costing hundreds of dollars. Wouldn't you rather spend that money on something fun? Try using reusable towels instead. Toss them in a laundry bag when you're done using them. When you have enough accumulated run them through the washer to clean them so they are ready to use again.

5. Skip the name brand items and opt for the store brand instead.

In almost every case the generic store brand version of a cleaning product will do just as good of a job as the name brand cleaner. With brand name products you are usually just paying extra for the name and all the advertising the company has done. Generic store brand products are typically far less expensive than their name brand counterparts and can wind up saving you a lot of cash.

Adopting even one of these simple tips can help to dramatically reduce your cleaning budget and save you lots of money. i hope you'll give them a try!