Frugal Quick Tip: Double Check After Unloading Groceries

A great way to save money is to not let your perishable groceries rot in your car or trunk after you bring them home from the store!  I was in a hurry last Thursday night after coming home from Target.  I had stopped to get a few things before we left for a wedding in Indy on Friday.  The next morning rolls around, and I was packing food in the cooler.  I went to pack the baby's milk....and it wasn't in the fridge!  I had gotten a gallon of whole milk at Target (for $3.59 a gallon, no less), and I left it in the trunk overnight!

These sort of things (that I actually find myself doing quite often) really send me over the edge of sanity.  Maybe I should follow my own advice and make it a habit to double check the car or trunk to ensure I actually brought in all of my purchases.  Likewise, make sure you take them all out of bags as well!

Frugal Quick Tip: Permanent Marker

Use those free permanent markers you may have gotten recently at Target (or elsewhere) to spiff up your wardrobe a bit.  I've used them on these black earrings to cover up spots where the paint has chipped.  Use a black permanent marker if you get a bleach stain on a black shirt.  You could also use them on scuffed black shoes.  What have you repaired using a permanent marker?

Frugal Quick Tip: Use for leftover cereal crumbs

Do you hate throwing away the crumbs at the bottom of the cereal bag?  I sure do!  Especially because sometimes half the bag are crumbs!  Simply use the crumbs as a yogurt topping!  Delish!

Frugal Quick Tip: DIY Taco Shells

Make your own, low-fat taco shells at home!  Gently hang flour tortillas over your oven rack.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until hardened.  Be sure to use tongs to carefully remove your shells.  They will be hot (along with your oven rack)!

Another useful taco-tip:  Line your taco shells with a lettuce leaf to keep all of the good stuff inside the taco when the shell inevitably breaks! 

Frugal Quick Tip: Use a spatula

This frugal quick tip is not earth-shattering, just common sense.  Yet, I often forget about it.  Next time you empty out a peanut butter jar or jar of spaghetti sauce or salsa, take an extra 20 seconds and clean it out with a spatula.  You can often get another tablespoon or more of product out of your container.  A tablespoon of extra food doesn't sound like much, but if you are trying to stretch your grocery budget, use every bit of food you pay for! 

This tip can extend beyond the kitchen as well!  Try it with your expensive lotions, shampoos and cleaning products!  Just be sure to clean your spatula well or even have a food and non-food spatula.

It is hard to tell from the picture above, but my mother-in-law gave me this spatula which is only 6 inches or so long and has a nice tapered point to get into every nook and cranny of my empty jars!

Frugal Quick Tip: Use it Up

Do you ever notice how much product gets left behind inside packaging?  There was a good amount of dishwashing detergent rattling around in the box that would not come out.  It didn't matter how hard I shook the box or which direction I turned it.  Finally, I ripped out the spout and tore into the corner of the box.  I would estimate a good tablespoon came out.  That is not a lot of detergent in the grand scheme of things, but why not take the extra 10 seconds to get the most product that you can out of the packaging?  This theory also applies to toothpaste, lotion, shampoo and anything else you can cut open! 

Frugal Quick Tip: Sticky Socks

Try this one on for size.  Find the puffy paint that you used to adorn every one of your t-shirts in the 80's.  (I know my mom has a whole box leftover.)  Put little dots of the paint on the bottom of your child's socks to prevent the inevitable slip and slide routine on your wood floor in the winter.