Necessities OR Not???

So many people have lost their jobs because of the economy and can't find new ones. Seniors, who have retired, have lost up to 50% of their portfolios that they rely on for day to day expenses. My son worked a job fair at his very prestigious college this week. He told me the number of students graduating this year who attended tripled from last year. He also told me the number of companies who attended the job fair was down about 50. Many, many of this year's graduates will continue on for their Masters Degree because there just aren't any jobs.

All of these aforementioned things got me thinking about all of the products that we buy that really are not necessities. We all know that when we can't get food, personal and cleaning products cheaply or free that it is usually cheaper to make them from scratch. All you have to do is google whatever you need and many recipes come up.

But what about all the substitutions that we can make in our daily lives that will save us money in the long run? Of course, the best course of action is do without the product all together and many times I have done that. But when we can't there are alternatives. Here are some of them:

1. Disposable diapers are very costly. I used cloth diapers, diaper pins and rubber pants for both of my sons. Every morning I could be seen hanging a load of diapers on the clothesline. I saved a fortune over buying disposable. The only time I did buy them was for traveling or going out for the day.

2. Disposable wipes can be replaced by washcloths or homemade wipes.

3. Regular dishes and glasses can replace paper plates and cups.

4. Use a plastic cup for each member of the family in the bathroom instead of paper bathroom refills.

5. Paper napkins are so easy but it is just as easy to wash cloth napkins.

6. Rags made from old clothes or towels can be used instead of costly paper towels. Use newspaper sheets to wash windows. I also use dish towels in the kitchen.

7. There are disposable wipes for everything. Use a rag and cleaners or polishes instead.

8. Trade that sponge for a dishcloth.

9. I used a gold permanent washable filter in my coffeemaker rather than purchase disposable filters.

10. All those store plastic grocery bags can replace purchased garbage bags.

11. My hand can opener works just as well as an electric one and it saves electricity.

12. Use cloth handkerchiefs instead of Kleenex.

13. Plant perennial flowers or bulbs instead of annuals that need replacing every year.

14. Consider planting fruit trees instead of regular trees. I loved having a cherry tree in my yard in N.Y. It gave us many, many pies.

15. We planted blueberries along our fence in N.Y. instead of decorative bushes. They were beautiful and gave us enough blueberries for the entire year.

16. Drink water, Kool -Aid or sun tea instead of costly soda.

17. Use lemon Kool - Aid to clean the inside of your dishwasher instead of expensive dishwasher cleaners. I learned this a long time ago from my friend, Leanne.

18. If you kill live indoor plants the way I do or if your cat eats them, replace them with top quality artificial plants. Mine look just as good and I don't have to water them!

19. Use a deodorant stone instead of deodorant. Before I could get deodorant for free, I used one and it lasted a couple of years.

20. If you have no free toothpaste, use baking soda to brush your teeth.

21. Reuse free or cheap plastic forks, knives and spoons by washing and drying them.

22. Make your own firepit logs using newspapers.

23. Purchase quality cloth shower curtain liners and wash them. They will last so much longer and will be so much cleaner than plastic liners.

24. Don't use expensive printer paper to print coupons. Use the backside of junk mail.
25. Don't pay for photos. Use a digital camera and a photo printer. Staples had such a good deal( think pennies) on photo paper a couple of years ago that I am stocked for years.
26. Make envelopes from pretty magazine pages using a template instead of buying them.


I am sure you can think of many, many more than I have listed here. The real point is to think about everything you buy and what you could replace it with that will save you money.

As usual, I would love to know what your ideas are. Please leave a comment and share them with all of us!