By Dianne Boate
Published: June, 2009
Subscriptions: It was hard, but one day I decided to let go of most of my magazine and newspaper subscriptions, with a few treasured exceptions. I kept track of all the rejects, and before six months had passed I had “saved” $175. Tying very nicely into this, I made a Christmas list for the family, who were quite relieved to order Threads, Sunset Magazine, Gourmet, and W as my gifts. The San Francisco Chronicle is one subscription I hold dearly; this last year, we started giving it to our neighbor across the hall when we’re finished reading every day.
A pinch of sugar and a drop of detergent: This mixture, put into your flower vases before adding water, will keep cut blooms fresh way past their time. So, no more buying any flower power stuff. I recently tried this on a bunch of fresh basil, and 13 days later it is still looking like it was picked yesterday.
Mark your territory: If you buy something at a bargain price and don’t use it, it’s like throwing money away. Keeping track of your usage of a product can help determine future buying needs. To keep it simple, I simply write the date a product comes home from the store with a marker pen directly on the product package: Clorox, vitamins, staples, anything purchased in bulk. While I usually buy household staples and cleaning supplies in bulk, my one exception is olive oil; I buy pint size of good-quality oil. The size of the bottle makes me think I don’t have much and so I don’t use much—good for the waistline and the pocketbook.
Cat Grass: Important for indoor cat health, and expensive to buy. A 4 x 4 inch container of cat grass in pet stores costs $2. My cat grass is 13 inches in diameter, and cost about $.43. This is about five ounces of hard wheat berries ($1.39/pound) that I soak overnight, then pile into a pot of potting soil with a thin covering of soil. It takes about 5 days. The grass can be cut like a lawn with scissors for next growth.
Saving on Food Costs: One of the biggest savings has come in an unexpected form: Mariquita Farm Mystery boxes of organic produce for $25 every two weeks. These boxes contain 16 to 20 pounds of fruits and vegetables, and the quality and variety of the produce has introduced to me a whole new way of cooking and eating. The main result has been that I lost 30 pounds by not buying meat, cheese and fatty dairy products. I had a meeting with a prospective financial advisor who wanted a list of household expenses; she fell off her chair, laughing, when I told her how much I spend on food.
Blue Bottles: I save pint and liter water bottles that are blue for quick watering fixes on my rooftop garden, saving me the time and trouble of using the hose. The blue looks very nice as a decorative touch; in addition, I fill the bottles with the first water that comes out cold when I turn on the hot tap.
