If you missed the first post in this series, catch up here. Shop at Home to Save
Picture yourself on a deserted island where only your home exists. If you had to survive in the manner to which you are currently accustomed and could not go out to buy anything else, would you use up the stuff you already have?
For example, you could wash with that bar soap even if it isn’t your favorite type or brand? Have you been eyeing a new perfume lately when you already have three unopened bottles of other scents that you haven’t around to using? Could you use up that lone bag of cotton balls you already have if you couldn’t go out and buy the makeup pads that you prefer? What about the toothbrushes you no longer use because you switched to an electric brush? Could you use those manual toothbrushes up before replacing the head on your electric toothbrush?
Take everything out an evaluate it. Create three piles for your stuff. Pile one will be trash for anything that is no longer good, such as products gone bad. Pile two will be items that are still useful to you. This could be unopened or opened items, depending on the product. Pile three will be items that are unopened, still good but unusable to you, such as the bubble bath in a scent you hate, the lotion that gives you a rash, the laundry detergent that makes your husband sneeze.
Pile one obviously gets thrown out. Pile two gets rotated into normal everyday use, and pile three can get donated to someone who can use it.
Shopping at home can save you the money for an extra week or two of groceries, depending on how much you have at hand. And as an added bonus, you can de-clutter your home at the same time. And having a de-cluttered home can also save you money in other ways.
Check back tomorrow when I reveal my various sources for all of those items I mentioned in the first post.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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