Extreme Budgeting 101: How to Save Money on Basic Household Items

This article will show you how to save money with regular household items around your house. With the rising prices of gas and food costs, many people are having problems even paying basic bills. Perhaps you can't afford your regular budget for groceries because the cost of gas has cut into it. Or maybe the increased prices for food means you have to save $50 per month somewhere else. Here are ten tips for saving money around the house, when your budget has finally reached emergency status.

1. Water down your beauty products. Buy a bottle of shampoo. Take an empty plastic water bottle and put half of the shampoo in it. Then, add water to both bottles. Now, you have two bottles of shampoo for the price of one. You're going to be using water with your shampoo anyway, so diluting it isn't going to make it less effective. I wouldn't recommend this with hot oil treatments or hair coloring, but shampoo and conditioner will do just fine. Experience for me has also shown that you can do this with hairspray and spray hair gel. If your kids won't accept using shampoo out of a plastic water bottle, let them use the original bottle with the shampoo and water, and you use the plastic bottle.

2. Refrigerate and/or freeze unused bread, so it stays fresher longer and you waste less. Chances are, in the past month you've seen some mold growing on a loaf of bread and had to throw it away. To save money and waste less, when you buy the bread, freeze half the loaf. Then, you can use the second half the next week.

3. Use the back side of sheets of paper. Instead of throwing away all of your paper, try using the other side. You probably have lots of pieces of paper that have only been used on one side. Maybe it's a grocery list, or even school work from your children. You can use the other side of the paper and save a lot of money buying paper every month! If things are really tight, try using envelopes for scratch paper instead of actually buying pads of paper to write on. Or you could use the back side of junk mail.

4. Portion dinners smaller. When making dinner, if you always have leftovers that don't get eaten, this could be a real solution for you for saving some money during extreme times. If you usually use a whole pound of spaghetti and a whole jar of sauce, try using only 75% of the pasta and spaghetti. The noodles will keep unused, and the sauce will keep in your refrigerator for at least a week. So, you could use the rest the next time you make spaghetti. The alternative to this would be to immediately freeze part of the spaghetti after you make it. For those kids who won't eat the same thing two nights in a row, this offers a way to put the spaghetti away for a week and not let it go to waste!

5. Use candles. You may not feel like going back to prehistoric (or so you call it) times when there were no lights. However, if you use candles to light your home you could save up to 30 or 40 percent on your electricity bill each month. You can also make a romantic setting for you and your mate that creates a relaxing mood. Even if you have to spend a few dollars buying candles, you'll still save money in the end.

6. Stop using throw away dinner ware and plastic ware. If you use plastic knives and forks and paper plates to avoid washing dishes, don't do this anymore. You will spend more money buying plastic and paperware than you would paying for the dish detergent and water to wash dishes. And, you'll be harming the environment with more waste. This will save you from having to buy plastic ware and paper plates each month.

7. Try not to throw anything away that can be reused. Popsicle sticks can make an interesting photo frame. Plastic water bottles can be used as a flower vase. You can get creative and reuse all kinds of items that once would have gone directly into the trash.

8. Use Walmart plastic bags and other plastic grocery bags as trash can liners in your kitchen and bathroom. Instead of spending money on trash can liners, use something you already have at your house for free. You should know, however, that some businesses may start charging for plastic bags. When this happens, you might have to come up with another alternative.

9. Make your own potpourri and air fresheners instead of buying them. For example, you can dry flowers from your backyard and keep orange rinds to dry out to use as potpourri. Dried orange rinds have a good smell, as long as you make sure they don't start to mold.

10. Sew the holes in your socks instead of buying new ones. You probably have ten pair of socks with a hole in the toe that you're just about to throw out. It takes five minutes with a needle and thread to sew the hole closed, and then you won't even know it was ever there. Try actually replacing or fixing the zipper on old jeans before you buy new ones as well.