How far are you really willing to go to save money?
Right now, Americans are working hard to stretch every dollar. We’re seeing people get incredibly creative — and maybe a little extreme — in their efforts to cut costs. Money expert Clark Howard has even started experimenting with some of these tactics himself, and he has some secrets to confess.
Clark Howard’s Personal Frugal Confessions
Clark recently read a piece in the Wall Street Journal about people diluting various liquid products, such as laundry detergent and soap, to make them last longer. And he thought, “Why not give it a shot?”
- Diluting hand Soap: When the liquid soap level got halfway down, he filled the rest of the dispenser with water to dilute it and make it last longer. But guess what? Nobody has noticed that the hand soap is diluted. He says it still cleans just fine, and he’s using half as much soap.
- Tearing dryer sheets in half: Clark is also now tearing the dryer sheets in half before he tosses them into a load of laundry. So far? Not a single complaint.
Tearing dryer sheets in half and diluting liquid hand soap are small things, but they add up over time. These kinds of moves prove that there are countless little ways you can save money without sacrificing quality.
More Extreme Money-Saving Tips
Our Team Clark audience members are absolutely unbelievable when it comes to finding ways to save. They’ve been sharing some of their best tips with us after we featured a poll in our newsletter. We asked:
What is your favorite or most extreme money-saving habit? (The one thing you do that saves you money, but your friends or family might call “crazy.”)
Here are a few of the responses we received:
Jill in Florida: “I have been making my own laundry detergent and using white vinegar as my fabric softener since the mid-to-late 80s. I cannot imagine how much money I have saved on laundry detergent and fabric softener over the decades.”
Bruce in Georgia: “Reusing Plackers floss. They wash off fine and work fine for several future uses.”
Dave in Georgia: “Use return addressed #10 envelopes from junk mail. I use an address label to cover their address and write a new address on the label.”
Rachel in Texas: “My favorite money-saving habit cuts my coffee spending by almost 50%. Obviously the biggest tip is brew coffee at home, but the expense can be cut further simply by using two filters. Doubling-up slows the filtering, so you only need about 1 Tablespoon per cup. For an 8-cup pot of coffee, I use 5T for my perfect cup of coffee.”
Jackie in California: “I forage for fruit/berries from either wild or domestic plants growing wild or in public areas. Wild grapes, blackberries, mulberries, figs, etc.”
Mk in California: “I wash Ziploc bags, dry thoroughly and use these again.”
Joyce in North Carolina: “I bring my own soda (that I buy at Sam’s by the case) usually a Coke Zero, and a refill, when I’m eating lunch out. Even If I’m doing fast food. That $3.00 only cost me .48 cents. I also bring my own big bag of chips. There’s a sandwich shop that I like to treat myself to every once in a while called Jersey Mike’s. They have great heros or subs and they offer chips and a drink deals but I bring my own and eat in the car!”
Jed in California: “Our water costs close to $10.00 a unit (749 gallons) so i save the water from the washing machine in 30 gallon plastic garbage cans and use a bucket of the used water to flush the toilet, I also save the shower water waiting for it to get warm in a clean water container and use that water to make my coffee in the morning.”
Mark in Arkansas: “My wife and I pick up trash on our daily walks. We often find discarded pieces of clothing; socks, hats, jackets etc on our normal route. Instead of throwing these pieces into the trash we recycle them into our wardrobe after a good washing. We pretty much never have to buy clothing, hats, socks, etc., because we re-purpose these items when possible. We also don’t have to go to the gym as we stay limber with all the bending and stretching required to keep our normal walking route clean and tidy!”
Judy in New York: “I save vegetable peelings and scraps others discard and make vegetable broth with them. I also save crumbs from cereal and heels of bread in the freezer. I then crush them and use them as breadcrumbs or pulse them into a flour.”
Annie in Arizona: “1) Use a teabag twice. 2) Rinse out and reuse plastic sandwich/storage bags 3) Paper towels: dry out wet ones and reuse them 4) At restaurants, share an entree and have water for a drink OR just get appetizers instead of entrees.”
Ryan in Georgia: “I cut tubes and bottles in half to get every bit of toothpaste, lotion, and sunscreen out of them.”
Dan in California: “I reuse my meal napkins for up to three days. I use one side, then the other, and then I turn it inside out (good for the environment as well).”
Sharon in Georgia: “I save the wrappers off of the sticks of butter and use them when I need to ‘grease’ a baking pan or muffin tins. Hardly ever have to use non-stick sprays and it’s much healthier and doesn’t add calories. Food never sticks!”
Angela in Florida: “I have a traditional electric hot water heater. I turn it off at the breaker and turn it on for an hour before my bath. I use my coffee pot to make batches of hot water to wash dishes, if I don’t wash them right after my bath. I learned this from my parents and have been doing this for decades.”
What’s your most extreme money-saving habit? Share your response with us!
