How To Save Money On Household Items In a Recession
Once you’ve cut back on luxury items and discretionary items and you still need to squeeze more out of your money the questions comes up how to save money on household items. Even in a recession we still need to maintain the house, right?
Here are realistic, actionable tips on how to save money on household products during a recession. 
Reduce What You Use & Improve
We lived in an era where every part of the house gets its own cleaner and every action gets its own tool. Did you see our grandma clean like that?
- Paper towel is pretty useless. Convenient, maybe. But this is paper money you mop up some spilled coffee with … and then throw away. Helloooo!!! Instead, cut up some old T-shirts into rags you can use. Swish up anything on the counter, quickly rinse & squeeze and you’re ready for the next spill.
Don’t like the idea of rinse & squeeze? Make a pile of these rags and use them like paper towel but instead of throwing them away, pitch them in your laundry basket. - Dedicated cleaning materials are a way to make you buy the same product multiple times by convincing you cleaning the kitchen counter and cleaning the bathroom need two different cleaners.
Two easy, cheap and tremendously effective cleaners are vinegar (which disinfects almost as good as using pure bleach but without the stains!) and … dishwashing liquid.
That’s right: dishwashing liquid. It’s made to cut through grease and grime – it usually even says so on the bottle! What better to use to clean your food stained kitchen counters than the very product we use to wash the dishes with the same food stains? Afraid it doesn’t disinfect? One; and yet you eat from your plates? Two: get one that specifically says “anti-bacterial” on the label.
You can buy dishwashing liquid in huge bottles. Get a spray bottle from a dollar store. Pour in almost completely full with water, then add about 2-3 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid. Shake: ready to go.
Use this trusty duo – vinegar and dishwashing liquid – wherever you would use other cleaning products. - Refills are crack cocaine for households. They sell the starter kit of whatever it is for next to nothing and then you keep on handing over your good money to total strangers for the rest of your life. No more.
The “easy clean” bathroom hangers? Make a do it yourself solution instead for dimes and save up to $100 per year. Or: get the cheaper spray bottles you have to use manually and use that instead. Or: while taking a shower, wipe down the walls. Or: clean the old fashioned way (once a week) using the cleaners mentioned above.
Nice odors like Glade and what not? Buy essential oils. A bottle will last you half a life time. Or: buy cheap fabric softener sheets and place them around the house. - Mops, dusters and what not; if it is an item it should be reusable. It is insane to buy sheets for a “mop” or dust your house with a tool you have to buy refills for (see above). Buy a regular, cheap map. Don’t go for the old fashioned wooden ones; you can’t really wash them Get one with a replaceable head. Be warned!!! Don’t get locked in. Many replaceable head mops nowadays are very very expensive and meant to be changed a lot. Go to the store, grab a cheap wirey mop head and try it on several sticks. Buy the one that fits.
Tip: many dollar stores sell mop heads for a dollar and they sell sticks to put them on. Also a dollar.
Dust your house with old rags or used fabric softener sheets. - Vacuum cleaners have become a special kind of evil. They often need multiple dedicated and expensive changes and refills. When shopping for a vacuum cleaner make sure it doesn’t need a dust bag. Many new vacuum cleaners require special filters; check the price. Buy two or three right away so you’re ready for coming years. Look well: is this something you could easily take out and rinse or soak to make it last longer?
If you can’t replace your vacuum cleaner right now, try to reuse. Shake your dust bag in the trashcan but don’t throw it away. Use used fabric softener sheets to replace the air filter sheets with.
Image credit: Kevin McShane
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