Small Investment Purchases

Leta

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I think we all know about big things that save money in the long run- solar panels, home insulation, fuel efficient cars, etc. But there are many little things I've found that are cheap to moderately priced, pay for themselves very quickly, and save a lot of money in the long run.

I am always on the lookout for more of these, so I thought I'd share and hopefully someone can teach me something. :cool:

-Bamboo ear cleaners. These are under $10 for 5 of them on Amazon. We still keep QTips around, but our total QTip use has fallen by about 90%.

-Floss holders. DH was using those Reach flossers with the proprietary refills (he has giant baker hands and can't fit them in the back of his mouth) which cost way more than regular dental floss. So I got him a floss wand, again, under $10 for a few of them. You can get them on Amazon and eBay. It's a plastic wand with a Y shape and places to wrap and draw the floss tight. So no more Reach flossers or disposable dental picks.

-Stapleless stapler. Under $10. I never have to buy staples again.

-Laser printer. These are expensive, but you can get cheap, used black and white ones on eBay. Toner is so much less expensive even than refilling ink cartridges, and lasts so much longer, that this still paid for itself quickly. We do a good bit of printing though, because DH works for a college and absolutely everything is online, so we need to print stuff off a lot.

-Soft bristled scrub brush and washboard. These get stains out far better than any chemical concoction I've tried.

-We like carbonated beverages, and DH homebrews, so set ourselves up a home carbonation system. We can force carbonate to save flat beer, plus it's like having your own soda fountain. We make carbonated fruit juice and lemonade for the kids, and they never ask for pop anymore.

-A Shmop. Uses less hot water than a mop, no refills like a swiffer. Shmop and 13 terrycloth heads costs $50 on Amazon.

-MEN SHIELD YOUR EYES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. A menstrual cup and cloth pads. These are basically zero work, since I'm doing laundry anyway, and I still have not gotten over how much more pleasant they are to use. In my case, I use a diaphragm as a menstrual cup, so with my health insurance, it was $0 OOP. The pads cost me about $75, but in hindsight I ordered too many, and anyway that was six years ago. They paid for themselves long, long ago.

-A straight razor and a strop, or a safety razor. As yet, I have been able to find a straight razor for a good price, but I spent $10 at an antique shop on a safety razor, and $2 on 20 blades over a year ago, so this paid for itself in about a month.

-Several chalkboards, mostly thrifted. I have a recipe for chalk, so this saves a lot on paper/pens/pencils/erasers.

-Automotive microfiber cloths. These are about $12 at Wallyworld for a package of 25, and work in virtually every application where you think you need a paper towel. Once we figured out how to stop using paper towels on the cast iron (wet, scrape, rinse, put back on hot stove to air dry quickly, then lightly mist with oil) and started using cloth napkins and hankies, we gave up paper towels altogether. If one of the cats puke, I pick it up with newspaper, then use vinegar and a microfiber to clean.

-Flannel wipes. We use these in addition to, not instead of, toilet paper. Girls use way more TP than boys, because we wipe for pee. Using flannel wipes cut our TP consumption down by 75%. Then, for number two, we use TP for the first swipe, followed by a wet flannel wipe, and all I can say about this is yay for cleanliness.

-This isn't really one thing, but several: By moving toward thin blankets and towels, we have saved a lot of time (fewer loads) and energy (line drying) in laundry. Our kitchen towels are now all floursack (aka birdseye). They don't look like much, but they are really absorbent and dry in a wink. For blankets, we have two crocheted blankets per bed plus a thin flannel coverlet. These dry fast- they can be line dried in an hour or two, even in the winter (albeit indoors), even though we only have one set per bed. Next stop is thin robes and bathtowels, which are shockingly tough to find, but since bathtowels and robes represent our last laundry that's dried in the dryer, I think it's a worthwhile switch.

So, any good gadgets left for me out there?
 

me&thegals

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Ooohh--I'm going to have to find a couple of those items!! Thanks!
 

dragonlaurel

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Leta - Could you post the chalk recipe? I'd love to try that.

I totally agree about cloth pads- They are so much comfy-er than disposable pads and work very well. I made mine cause I didn't have the money to order a bunch of them.
 

Marianne

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Yes, and what's the deal with the bamboo ear cleaners? I have this mental picture of poking a chopstick or something like that into my ears. :lol:

I never heard of a stapleless stapler before.

I have to use my printer for work, but I bought a refill pack of ink cartridges for around $7 on Amazon - 2 of each color plus 4 black. I think it had free shipping, too. Setting it to print on 'fast draft' each time uses less ink and the print is almost as dark as 'normal'. At this point, I'll have to stay with what I have, but I'll check into the laser ones when this printer kicks the bucket.

I use an old Swiffer wand with cut up t-shirts and homemade dusting spray (2 drops any kind of cooking oil to one cup of water. Shake it up before lightly spraying the rag.) But I was going to ask how to make a regular mop for wet applications. I have one, but I just hate the head on it.

I use rags instead of paper towels, do the same newspaper cleanup when it's a 'eewuuuu' situation. I also save all my flour and sugar bags for draining bacon, etc. I just cut the ends off and down one side. Then I end up with a flat sheet that I can cut into different sizes.

Leta, you do more than a lot of people here on the forum! :thumbsup
 

Leta

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These are the ear cleaners. They are excellent at cleaning the pinna. I tend to have very dry earwax, so, for me, they work better in the ear canal than a QTip. I need something with scraping action. My kids clean their own ears with these, and they do NOT have dry earwax. You obviously need a light and gentle touch, but being able to scratch the inside of an itchy ear is very satisfying. This is not just me, DH was deeply skeptical about these, but quickly converted because scratching an itch is a nice feeling.

Staplefree stapler. Unlike a regular stapler, that puts two tiny holes in your paper and drives a metal staple through it, a staplefree stapler puts one, slightly larger hole in your paper. The hole is made by several tiny cuts that the stapler then wraps/folds, like a tiny origami edge around the wee hole in your paper. I think it's pretty cool.

Marianne, what kind of printer do you have? The flour/sugar bag for draining is a great idea! I'm stealing that one.

I got a Swiffer and shortened the handle for my kiddos. They love it! I need to find them a small broom. We use microfiber towels cut in half instead of the Swiffer refills. For wet mopping, I just soak the towel and wring it out, toss in hamper when dirty, repeat. Microfiber holds quite a bit of water, though, I'm not fully certain how this would work with old Tshirts, but it's certainly worth a shot.

Chalk

1 cup Plaster of Paris (do not pack)

almost cup cool water

Liquid Tempera

Margarine tubs or other disposable mixing containers

Disposable molds


Pour plaster of paris into container. Using a disposable stick, stir in most of the water. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of liquid tempera, mixing well, especially at the bottom. Add a little more water so the mixture thickens, stir well and pour into the molds. (I make molds out of tin foil.) Allow chalk to dry completely and remove molds.
 

PamsPride

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ITA on the cup, cloth pads, and flannel wipes!! Love them!
 

Marianne

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Those bamboo ear spoons are just flat unusual! DH said 'no thanks', but I'm going to have to show them to a friend of ours. That goofball uses an ink pen cartridge to scratch his ears. One time he poked it in too far and ended up at the emergency clinic! :lol: They were all waiting for him as they thought he'd show up with the pen still sticking out of his ear.

Love the stapler!

I miss the cloth wipes. DS#1 is on an extended visit here. He's developing into a germophob, I think...so family cloth and container went into hiding.

(He's throwing me off my groove....)
 

Leta

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Marianne said:
Those bamboo ear spoons are just flat unusual! DH said 'no thanks', but I'm going to have to show them to a friend of ours. That goofball uses an ink pen cartridge to scratch his ears. One time he poked it in too far and ended up at the emergency clinic!
I used to do this! I used a pen cap, or a bobby pin. My very good friend, her sister is audiologist, and she caught me at it one time. This very sweet woman went Medieval on my @$$. She very aggressively told me that I was being reckless and dangerous. Then she recommended the bamboo ear cleaners. :lol:
 

dragonlaurel

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I used to use a small paper clip for the wax. I also had a manicure kit that came with a tool that was great for it. The end was shaped like a tiny oar. I used it for my ears till it got lost. My mom said it was for pushing cuticles back, but I'm suspicious it may have been an ear wax tool.
 

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