Items Your Household Can Definitely Do Without

There are hundreds of products being consistently purchased by consumers today, products that the majority of households could really live without. We are creatures of comfort, purchasing every little item on the market that will supposedly help us run our households more efficiently, will clean our dishes better, leave our laundry with that 'touch of spring' scent we believe; because its drummed into our head by the distributors of these products, we just cant live without. The truth is, you can do without these products and run your household efficiently. Not to mention, increase your bank account and keep everyone in your home healthier in the process. For instance, those wonderful smelling dryer sheets that supposedly leave our clothing smelling fresh and clean for longer periods between washing are an unnecessary expense on which we waste a large percentage of our money every year. Not only are these unnecessary, they are also very unhealthy for us as well. They are loaded with harmful synthetics and even though they may smell good, are just not worth the harm they can potentially do to our families health. If you're one of those people who must have a fresh or exotic smell coming from your clothes dryer every time you do a load of clothes, consider spraying a small piece of cloth with an essential oil such as cinnamon bark or peppermint and tossing in the dryer with your clothing. Washing detergents are not only unnecessary but also potentially harmful products that households could definitely thrive without. Detergents contain harmful agents that can cause asthma and allergies in children and adults. Consider a safer less expensive alternative; dish detergent, a mild gentle detergent can clean your dishes and also work just as well on your clothing.

Changing the way you do your laundry or the products you use, is not only a more economical choice, its also better for your families health and much gentler on there sensitive skin. Bottled water is another wasteful product that consumers spend vast amounts of money on every day. Studies have shown that bottled water is really no safer or cleaner than tap water. The New York Times estimates that Americans who drink 8 ounces of bottled water per day spend an average of $1400.00 per year on bottled water. That's a lot of money when you can get the same product straight out of your sink for free. It not only saves you money but also is better for the environment as it means less plastic waste in the landfills. Gift wrap is another very wasteful, environment killing item on which consumers throw tens of thousands of dollars away on every year. And every year millions of pounds of gift wrap are thrown into the local landfills at holidays like Christmas, to clog and pollute our earth with even more unnecessary waste. Consider other alternatives such as using old maps to wrap those favorite presents in, comic book pages or children's artwork that can later be framed and hung on family members walls or scrap booked, to be remembered for years to come are especially good as well. Use newspapers, wacky interesting photos, even beautiful old cloth that can later be reused for sewing, colorful dishtowels or bath towels, even beach towels to wrap big bulky items. Use your imagination and you'll be able to come up with lots of creative and thoughtful ideas for wrapping presents, ideas that will save you money while protecting the environment. Instead of throwing your money into the garbage which is literally what we do when we purchase those boxes of bags we use for our household trash, consider using the endless supply of free plastic bags you get at the grocery store, or If you must go to the landfill to dump your own trash bags aren't even necessary. Invest in several trashcans to keep throughout your home, when there full simply take them to the landfill. Of course, all food must be thrown outside for area pets, birds and squirrels to keep the smell down, or start a compost heap. Dvd's, c.d.'s and videos are other items we waste money on when we purchase. Its much easier and more convenient to rent the movies and music you wish to enjoy. Or consider joining a video service like Netflix or a site that allows you to swap movies and games. Make use of the local library, which usually has an interesting assortment of movies, music and c.d's to choose from. Fill your ipod with downloaded music from the internet. Expensive bathroom cleaners are something else there's really no real need for consumers to be spending money on. I would suggest using the much less expensive powder cleansers like Ajax, for a sparkling clean bathroom, it works wonderful and for a third of the price of other cleaners. Lots of people love to fill there home with the freshness of spring with beautiful, colorful displays of just picked flowers, however, buying these can be very expensive. Consider growing a garden of your own or purchasing inexpensive bouquets from neighbors who have gardens. Check the trash of local flower shops, some of them throw out there flowers when there a few days old.

Some people even suggest that buying Kleenex, toilet paper and sanitary pads is really not necessary, although, personally, I'm not really sure I agree with them on that subject. Its true that if money is a problem for you there are ways to deal with the lack of these items. Such as buying hand towels that can be rewashed to use as Kleenex, and yes, even to replace sanitary pads, they can be rewashed numerous times and used for years. Some even say you can replace toilet paper with hand towels, although I really wouldn't recommend it, unless you absolutely must, as this really isn't very sanitary. People have compared it to washing diapers, but there is a very big difference in adult waste and that of a baby. Americans are some of the most wasteful people in the world. We've gotten so use to our very easy, somewhat lazy lives and the vast array of products we purchase to help us in managing it. We're creatures of comfort and buy into the load of crap the media tries to sell us, like; in order to be happy we must purchase all these gadgets and gimmicks that will better manage our lives and fit in with the rest of the population, this is just not true, the majority of the items we purchase, we can live without. Visit www.frugalquality.com. And www.healthyhouseholds.com for information on running a healthier, economical, less wasteful household.