Ways to Make Non-Food Household Items Last Longer

Over the last year, like so many others, I have had to meet many challenges when it comes to providing for my family. Food is only one concern; we also have to spend money on many other things. Think about all the money spent on non-food items. I have found a few ways to make my money stretch much farther than it normally would. Here are a few things I do to make my non-food items last longer.

Shampoo - We use much more shampoo than necessary to wash our hair. To make it last much longer, just pump one or two squirts of shampoo into your hand and wash your hair. Do the same with your cream rinse. You will be pleasantly surprised that your shampoo and cream rinse will last twice as long or maybe even longer.

Hand soap - I like to use a foam dispenser for hand soap. I buy pump bottles filled with Dawn detergent. When they are empty I keep them and pour about 1 inch of dish washing liquid in there (any kind) and fill the rest up with water. This foams up perfectly and it is great to wash your hands with.

Home decorating - Creating a border without spending a lot of money can be done by purchasing contact paper that is sticky on one side and a vinyl like surface. A friend of mine found some that had Winnie the Pooh prints on it. She bought it and cut out the Pooh characters and peeled them and stuck them to the area just under the molding in her little boy's bedroom. She called me to come see what she had done, and it looked really good. I asked her what she would do if she wanted to take them down or change them out with other characters, and she said that they peel right off with no glue spots or anything.

Cleaning wipes - I love the Clorox wipes, but they do get rather expensive. I found that I can use Windex on a paper towel and it does the same thing as the Clorox wipes.

Athlete's foot home remedy - You might spend a small fortune on medicine for athlete's foot. I found that vinegar gets rid of the foot fungus. I put straight apple cider vinegar into a squirt bottle and spray my feet. After a day or two I found that my feet were much better. After a week they were all cleared up. Now I just spray them about once a week and they never crack, nor are they sore. The skin on my feet is soft and supple.

Window cleaner - You can use Windex, but vinegar works as well or better to clean windows. Use newspapers, instead of paper towels to clean your windows with and there will not be any streaks or lint left on the windows.

Save gasoline - Combine your errands so that you are not going out several times a week when you don't have to. Do as much in one day as possible.

Laundry soap - In a large pot put about 1 gallon of warm water. Add 3 cups of your favorite laundry detergent to the water; add 1 cup of Borax, and 1 cup of baking soda. Mix it up and pour it into empty liquid laundry containers and use it by the capful. I think it works much better than plain laundry detergent, and it is much cheaper because I am not buying laundry products as often, so it is saving lots of money. I used to go through 4 bottles of Tide each month.

Purchasing clothes and household items - I go to the Goodwill now to get all my clothes, except for personal items like underwear. I recently got a nearly new rose pattern comforter for my bed and curtains to match for $9 and I got a throw rug for $1.

There are so many ways to save money that most people never think of. With a little thought and ingenuity you can save lots of money each month. It almost seems like I have given myself a raise when I don't have to buy cleaning products every month. I have totally changed the way I do things, just to make my money stretch, and I found that these money saving tips have really been a good thing for us.