There are a lot of ways to save money. Here I have compiled some of, what I consider, the craziest ways to save money. These are the most extreme ways I can think of to save some cash. I have not personally tried all of these, but there are a few that I have attempted. I have started with the least of the most crazy and will end with what I consider the most extreme way to save money.
Related: 14 Ways To Save Money On A Baby
Line Dry
Dryers use a lot of electricity. To save those costs, you can put your clothes out on lines or a stand to dry. Many people line dry outdoors to allow the wind to help circulate everything.
I line dry my microfiber towels, but I do so much laundry, that I don’t think that its logistically a possibility to line dry all of my laundry. Outdoor line drying is impossible for 8 months of the year here, so that’s out of the question for me.
Dryer Balls
Instead of using harsh chemicals found in dryer sheets, get a pack of dryer balls once and use them over and over again to reduce static and drying time.
I have used dryer balls, but they are so noisy that they are disruptive. They do a great job of keeping static at bay. I don’t ever use dryer sheets anyways. We have these adorable penguin dryer balls.
Reusable Q-tips
You can get a metal device that might work better than a normal q-tip. It has an upfront cost, but it will eventually pay for itself as you don’t have to keep buying more disposable q-tips.
I haven’t tried a reusable q-tip, but it looks fascinating.
Reusable Cotton Swabs
Instead of purchasing lots of tiny cotton balls, get a pack of these washable pads. I’ve heard they’re also really great at removing make up.
I have reusable cotton swabs and they work just as well as cotton balls, I wouldn’t use them to remove sticky stuff.
Beeswax Food Wraps
Beeswax food wraps- There is a small upfront cost with these, but they can replace many items like plastic wrap, plastic bags, and aluminum foil. If you use a lot of these things, consider getting some bees wax food wraps.
We used to have some of these, but I forgot they exist and we didn’t use them much, so we don’t have them anymore. We didn’t used to use plastic wrap because my husband despises it, but we recently started having some in the house. We primarily use pyrex dishes to store food and leftovers.
Birthday Freebies
Tons of places offer birthday freebies or discounts. Denny’s will give you a free grand slam if you show them your ID on your birthday. Some offers want you to have signed up in advance and they will send you a discount to your email. Check out this site for a list of 100 places that give you free stuff.
I love birthday freebies! I like to plan where I will eat for the day. There aren’t too many freebies where I live, but there are a few, check to see if there are any great ones in your area.
Extra Clothes And Blankets
If you need to save money on your heating costs, instead of turning up the thermostat consider grabbing more blankets or adding another sweatshirt instead of turning up the thermostat. Add another pair of socks or a couple of heavy blankets and you could save yourself some cash.
We keep our bedrooms at 66 degrees, but I prefer that our main living space is kept at a decent temperature so my fingers don’t freeze when I’m doing something in the house.
DIY Cleaning Products
Consider making your own products. Shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, they all can be made with much cheaper items.
I make a laundry booster and I’ve tried to make some other products, but I don’t use many products so DIY isn’t necessary.
Try No Spend Month
Take a whole month to not spend money as much as possible. Don’t go out to eat, don’t buy anything online or in stores. Find things to do with what you have.
We have done this before, of course we still buy groceries as needed.
Try Eating From Your Pantry For A Month
Use the ingredients you have in your pantry, fridge, or freezer to come up with new exciting meals with items you already have. Set a goal to use up everything, or almost everything in your pantry, fridge, and freezer before buying more food. There are lots of websites that can give you meal ideas based off of which ingredients you have.
We have lots of kids, so this usually only lasts 1-2 weeks, but depending on how much food you have stocked, it can last you a month or longer.
No (Sham)poo-
This is an idea of using baking soda and vinegar to wash your hair. There’s a whole movement trying to show you how. It’s a whole lot cheaper than using the expensive hair products, but it is a lot more intensive.
I tried this a long time ago, but it was quite difficult and it wasn’t doing the wonders for my hair that they had promised.
Reuse Shower Water
If you need to save money on water, try using your water for another task. Take a shower while standing in a bucket, or set some containers around you while you’re in the shower to capture some hardly used water. You can then use it for other tasks, washing laundry, filling cleaning bottles, cleaning floors, anything you need water for.
I’m not into this. My shower water goes down the drain where it belongs.
Shower Together
If reusing your shower water is too much for you, you could try sharing the shower with your child or spouse. You can save water and get some extra quality time with them.
I have taken showers with my young babies, but when my kids are about 10 months old they can start to take baths with each other. I feel like it takes a lot longer to take a shower when there’s more than one person to wash, so we don’t do this.
No Disposables
Don’t get anything disposable. No paper towels, no toilet paper (this one is extra extreme, see more below), no paper plates or plastic utensils. If you throw it away, it’s like throwing your money away.
We use toilet paper. We use paper plates and plastic utensils for our small group gathering or for events where there are more than 6 people, but we don’t purchase paper towels for ourselves, check out that post here.
If It’s Yellow Let It Mellow
If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down. To save money on water, consider only flushing the toilet if its brown. Every time you flush the toilet, a lot of water goes down the drain.
We don’t practice this. Our toilets are efficient and we don’t need to.
Condiments
If you’re going out to eat, take a couple of extra ketchup, mustard, or hot sauce packets. You can save money over time if you get enough of these to use on all of your burgers and the like.
I keep some condiments from fast food places for when we go camping.
Shower Less Or At Alternate Locations
I’m not suggesting you stop taking showers, just that you can take less showers, or try taking them at other locations. Does your work have a shower? Do you have a gym, or can you go with a buddy on a free pass to take a shower. Less showers = less water.
When we lived in a dry cabin, I took showers at my moms house and my husband took showers at work. Now we greatly enjoy being able to take showers in our own home.
Use A Bike
If it’s feasible for you, use a bike to get places instead of a car. Cars are expensive between gas, car insurance, and repairs it all adds up. If you are able to ditch your car, and get some exercise by riding your bike wherever you can.
It’s not feasible to use a bike in Alaska, especially with four small children. To the people who ride fat bikes all winter long- you are doing great, but please stay off the road.
Hotel Amenities
If you are staying at a hotel, why not take full advantage of this and bring home all the free things they leave, soaps, shampoos, conditioner, and lotion. Some even offer shower caps, combs, shaving cream, razors, and toothbrushes. You can also ask the front desk if they have some of these things.
I haven’t been desperate enough for this, but there are some nice products that they do offer, it’s kind of like a sample toiletry.
Don’t Celebrate Birthday’s Or Holidays
Birthdays and holidays can be extremely expensive. But if you don’t celebrate them with a party or gifts, you can save lots of money. Food, decorations, entertainment, and gifts all add up.
We don’t do anything extravagant for birthday’s or holidays so we still celebrate them. Check out how to have an affordable birthday party here. Check out what we got for our kids for Christmas here.
Hunt
This money saving trick has a large upfront cost in purchasing a gun and hunting license, plus all the time it takes to process the meat, but in the long run it could save you lots of money if you get some large game every year. If you already hunt, it’s may not seem that extreme, but you can try to hunt to exclusively obtain your meat.
As unalaskan as it sounds, we don’t hunt yet. I love the idea of having some moose to last us for a while, but at this time it’s not something we do. We have fished for salmon. We have also received moose meat as well as halibut from friends and family.
Airbnb Your Home
If you’re tight on money, consider putting your home on Airbnb and living somewhere else.
We moved out of our house into a cabin, a two bedroom apartment, an RV, and a tent in the past 2 years so that we could Airbnb out our home and make some extra money in the summer.
Downsize Your Home
If you can’t afford to pay your mortgage or rent, try moving to a smaller home that is more affordable.
We started in a small cabin before our current home. If we had to, we would downsize.
Cloth Toilet Paper
It is also referred to as family cloth, you can use a piece of cloth to wipe and save a load of cash! This may be one of the craziest way to save money.
This is extreme, but for some people it works. If you are unwilling to try this last one, an alternate idea is to take some extra toilet paper from public restrooms instead of buying your own. I don’t advocate for this, but if you have to…
There are so many ways to save money, you don’t have to try all of these, but if you need to save money, give some of these a try.
So how about you, have you tried some of these crazy ways to save money? Do you have crazier ways to save money?
