Clothing and personal care expenses are necessary expenses but there are ways to save money.
Clothing
* Buy only because you need clothing and buy only those items that will fit into your present wardrobe. If you are choosing between two outfits, buy the one that goes best with what you already have.
* Buy good, usable clothing from thrift shops, garage sales, warehouse outlets, discount centers, and yard sales. Check any purchases first for stains or worn spots.
* Make purchases during sales time: clearance, end-of-month, or end-of-season.
* Buy versatile clothes that will expand your wardrobe, i.e., a sweater you can wear with two pairs of slacks you already have.
* Instead of buying new clothes, buy accessories that give a new look to the clothes already in your closet.
* Buy multi-season clothes such as an all-weather coat with a zip-in lining.
* Remodel or recycle an outfit you already own.
* Use cloth diapers and launder them yourself.
* If you know how to sew, consider saving by sewing your own clothes, but estimate costs carefully. You may be able to buy certain items on sale for less than you would spend on fabric and supplies.
* Share or trade sewing skills with family members or others in your community.
* Swap outgrown children’s and/or maternity clothes with neighbors or friends. Consider doing the same with shoes, ice skates, sports equipment, baby accessories, activity or school uniforms, etc.
Clothing Care
* Always consider care costs before purchase by checking the care label. Washing by machine costs less than dry cleaning.
* Keep clothes clean and in good repair. Remove stains promptly.
* Store clothes properly to protect from sun, moths, mildew, stretching, etc.
* Protect shoes and other leather items from water and salt stains.
* Buy minimum-care clothing: washable, dark colors. Dark clothes usually show wear less than light colors — especially coats, slacks, etc.
* Use self-dry-cleaning services and dry-clean your own clothes. Make sure all stains are removed before dry-cleaning. Self-dry-cleaning kits don’t usually work well on oil-based stains such as lipstick, grease, butter, etc.
* Share a dry-cleaning load with a friend if you don’t have enough for a full load.
Personal Care
* Use a mixture of baking soda and salt for brushing teeth.
* Buy personal care items from discount stores or wherever you find a personal care product on sale.
* Buy necessary items such as shampoo and toothpaste at reduced prices when stores offer “specials.” Stock up on specials but no more than you can reasonably use within the life of the product.
* Compare generic, store, and national prices — you may be paying for advertising.
* Give haircuts and permanents at home. Adopt a hair style you can manage yourself and which doesn’t need expensive care products and/or upkeep.
* Try inexpensive cosmetics. Similar ingredients are used in like cosmetic products. The difference in price is often due to promotion and advertising costs.
* Watch for coupons and rebates for personal care products.
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1. Swap, don’t buy (try eBay.com, craigslist.org, and freecycle.org)
2. Use concentrated soaps and cleaners since less packaging means less waste
3. If you see litter, pick it up
4. Spread the word
5. Invest in environmentally conscious mutual funds (find them at socialinvest.org)
6. Buy shade-grown coffee
7. Unload your trunk; the lighter the load, the less gas your car consumes
8. Seal up your house
9. Go toxin-free at home
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Here’s some great ideas to help you reduce the amount of waste you generate during the holiday season. By implementing some of these ideas, you can also reduce holiday costs.
Gift wrapping:
Trying to avoid the “gift wrap trap?” Here are some great ideas for gift wrapping alternatives.
- Scarves, handkerchiefs or bandannas.
- Old posters and maps.
- Pages from a child’s coloring book taped together (especially nice for relatives who would enjoy the artwork).
- Old sheet music.
- Newspapers (foreign newspapers are great).
- Last year’s holiday paper (press with warm iron if wrinkled).
- Wallpaper scraps.
- Home-sewn cloth bags.
- Fabric scraps.
- Pictures or advertisements from magazines and catalogs.
- Sunday comic pages.
- A present in a present (for example, a hat in a matching scarf, jewelry in a wooden box, cookies in a reusable tin or cookie jar, barbecue grill utensils or picnic supplies in a tablecloth, kitchen gifts in towels or all-purpose cloths).
- A plain box decorated with leftover glitter, paint, markers, etc.
- A cake pan, basket or a wooden box.
- Reusable decorative bags.
- A “Hollywood box:” individually wrap or decorate the top and bottom of a box with a separate lid. Encourage the recipient to reuse the box.
- Purchase wrapping paper made from recycled paper.
Tree ornaments/decorating:
Here are a few ideas for adding a special touch to holiday decorations.
* Baby’s shoe Memorabilia, such as a child’s first shoe or grandma’s hankie scented with perfume.
* An old full skirt as a tree skirt.
* Old jewelry (restring old necklaces, hang earrings or bracelets).
* Items collected on vacation.
* Small stuffed animals and toys.
* Cookie cutters.
* Miniature toy cars.
* Dressed-up doll as a tree-topper.
* Holiday card ornaments: cut up; glue felt fabric scraps on back; tie with yarn scraps.
* Edible cookie ornaments: use gingerbread or sugar cookie dough; poke a hole at the tip using a drinking straw; decorate and bake; thread a ribbon through hole; tie ribbon in a large loop and hang on bough of tree.
* Small pictures from old magazines or holiday cards: cut out; glue onto old plastic lid; decorate with beads, buttons or jewelry; punch a hole and hang with string or yarn.
* Popcorn and cranberry strings (can be eaten by animals after the holidays). Buttons
* Reusable glass icicles instead of disposable tinsel (keeps tree clean for mulching).
* Buttons knotted on a sturdy length of string.
* Spices from the kitchen instead of commercially prepared and packaged products or aerosols (for example, create pomander balls by placing whole cloves in oranges or lemons to create decorations that look and smell great).
* Gingerbread people and reindeer from leftover brown paper grocery bags (place on windows and walls for decoration.)
* Tin can luminary (punch holes into empty metal can; place candle inside.)
Read our inexpensive Valentine’s ideas!
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