We don't spend a lot on monthly household spending, aside from groceries. I mean, I have been told I should separate non-food purchases in tracking and so on, but I don't see the point because there isn't much to track. If we need something, we buy it.
I think a lot of it is that we try to reuse/reduce/recycle as much as possible.
We have always used cloth rags for cleaning, cloth napkins, tupperware for lunches, etc., etc. We rarely have to buy trash bags since we always have plastic bags at our disposal. & not generating much trash is also a lot of that.
Personally, I think there is always room for improvement. So I wanted to share a couple of recent improvements that I am pleased with.
Firstly, we bought a reusable mop a couple of years back. I have shared that before, but just wanted to say I am still LOVING that.
Secondly, I had put silicon muffin molds on my wish list last year, to replace paper muffin cups, and received them for Christmas.
http://www.amazon.com/California-Kitchenware-Butterfield-Sil...
I had never gotten around to using them. (I made some muffins since but was admittedly too lazy to clean the reusable ones, etc., etc.). Yesterday I was cleaning up and decided to wash them, which probably helped. Since they were able to dry overnight. Versus wanting to use them and not wanting to wash them and dry them first.
I used them today and they were just awesome and so easy to clean. LOVE LOVE LOVE! I am converted. Will wash them up and they will be ready for next time. (They are also dishwasher safe but they were so easy to clean that I just hand washed them. Seemed more hassle to put them through the wash).
Thirdly, I bought these reusable water bottles about a year ago.
http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Refill-Reuse-20-Ounce-Bottl...
I was skeptical about the durability when I first bought because these bottles are difficult to close. I thought it would frustrate the kids and/or they would break them trying to pry them open. But, surprisingly they have been really durable. (The kids take daily with their lunch).
We should have bought these water bottles ages ago, but it seemed like we always had an endless supply of water bottles (like our parents would buy some from Costco and give us a case, or whatever). We had also bought some cheaper bigger ones a while back but they didn't last very long. These seem to be a good middle ground. & they are dishwasher safe. & the kids delight in freezing them overnight so that they have cold water on hot days.
So those are my recent "reuse" upgrades.
What do you reuse in your house? I need more ideas.
June 2nd, 2014 at 06:22 pm 1401729755
If a produce bag from the store is clean after we take out the fruit/veggies (and doesn't have any holes), we stick that back in the grocery bag and use it again. We had some mesh bags that AS made with leftover material but they eventually wore out. I try to not use plastic bags at the grocery store at all, unless it's something like bulk snow peas where it would be a big hassle to put them on the conveyor belt at the register.
I'm sure you do cloth shopping bags already ...
Occasionally we fold up foil we've used and store it to reuse it, if it's clean ...
We have pack your own eggs and other bulk stuff at the store, and we try to remember to bring our own containers (not completely good at that) ...
We use vinegar instead of fabric softener so we don't use the Downy type sheets ...
Rechargeable batteries are probably a no-brainer ...
I think you already mentioned everything else we do. I'm kind of bad about using paper towels and disinfectant wipes instead of cloth rags, but other than that we do all the stuff you mentioned. Proud to say I've nearly broken my addiction to ziploc bags!