How to Do Things for Free or Dirt Cheap Around the House

Save big by substituting products and getting other things you need for free.

Sometimes, you may need to drastically cut your expenses, and clipping coupons or shopping at discount stores isn't enough. Whether you are struggling to make ends meet or just want to save a lot of money fast, you can save big on everyday and occasional household expenses.

Instructions

1. 

   Save big on tick and flea medicine for your dog

   Reduce your pet care costs. Instead of buying pet flea and tick medicine in individual doses based on your dog's weight, buy the same medicine in a larger weight-class. Put the medicine in a small bottle and draw out the correct dose with a syringe (without the needle) for your dog's weight. Depending on your dog's weight, you could get four doses for the price of one.

   Use sawdust shavings instead of cat, gerbil, or other pet litter.

2. 

   Coil your hose neater than this to increase sun exposure

   Tap into nature. Get hot water with nothing more than a long hose, an on-off valve and a water source. Hook the hose to the water source and coil it so the entire hose gets full sun. Run the hose to a bathtub or washing machine and enjoy free hot water every day you have sunshine and weather above freezing.

   Use tree branches for wall hooks, towel racks and railings. Hooks and towel racks are expensive. This costs you nothing but a few nails and a little time.

3. 

   Men's razors, soap, shampoo and other personal care products generally cost less than women's products.

   Look for cheaper household product alternatives. Buy men's personal care products instead of women's. They are generally cheaper. Don't throw away leftover slivers of soap. Collect the slivers in a mesh bag until you have enough to wash with. Foaming soap dispensers don't make as much mess and help your budget when you refill them yourself (only two squirts of dish soap and fill with water). Use baking soda instead of toothpaste. A small box of baking soda is less than half the price of a small tube of toothpaste.

   Baking soda also works as a cleanser for sinks, toilets and coffee and tea stains on mugs. Rubbing alcohol cleans and disinfects kitchen and bathroom surfaces, makes mirrors and windows and faucets sparkle. Windows cleaned with alcohol repel spiders. Ounce per ounce, rubbing alcohol costs less than half of surface or glass cleaner.

4. 

   Cut into that food bill. Dandelion leaves are good for you and are free. They provide vitamins A, B6, B12, C, K, calcium, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, and numerous other vitamins and minerals. They taste like arugula. Sorrel is another healthy and free veggie that grows wild. It is tenderer and milder tasting than dandelion. You can eat young dandelion or sorrel as a fresh salad with oil and vinegar or cooked with onions, garlic, salt and pepper.

   Get a refreshing and inexpensive salad dressing for four by mixing the juice of one lemon with 2 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Mix equal parts of seltzer water and orange juice for an inexpensive and healthy "soda." For inexpensive, spreadable butter without transfats, mix 3 parts soft butter to 1 part vegetable oil.

   Base meals on rice or potatoes. Both of these are healthy, filling and inexpensive. For centuries, Asian and Irish people have used rice or potatoes for the bulk of their diet. Potatoes and rice can be eaten with other vegetables, boiled, baked, fried, in soup, pancakes, or casseroles.

5. 

   Stalk construction sites. Contractors often throw away leftover materials on job sites to save time. If you get permission and make it convenient for them, they will give it to you for free or a small fee. They often have leftover wood scraps, cinderblocks, insulation, and bricks or siding. Renovation crews often haul off usable appliances, windows and fixtures to the landfill. The bigger the job, the more leftovers they have and the more they want to save time getting rid of them.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not have sawdust, you can get it free from a high school shop class or cabinet shop. The big curls from a planer are ideal for litter.

• Mature dandelions taste better cooked. If you want to eat raw dandelions, find some that have not bloomed yet.

• If you coil the water hose on the roof of a dog house or shed, you won't have to move it to mow. It will also get better sun exposure than on the ground.

• Get the exact dosage of flea and tick medicine for your dog's weight from your vet or an old package of medicine for your dog's weight class. Make sure you measure correctly. You don't want to overdose or underdose your dog.

• Be sure the dandelion or sorrel leaves haven't been sprayed with chemicals or by the neighbor's dog. Do not collect leaves by the side of a busy road. Plants absorb the exhaust from passing vehicles.

• Water from a hose in the sun can get hot enough to burn you.

• Do not use aromatic sawdust such as cedar as litter. It is too strong and may cause respiratory problems in some animals.

• Do not brush your teeth with baking soda more than once a day. It is too abrasive. You could use baking soda in the morning and brush with just water the rest of the day.

References

• Ask Aunt Judith: Dandelion Greens Offer Free Nutrition
• Dandelion Greens, Raw
• Potato, baked, flesh and skin, without salt
• Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked