So, I wanted to get some fresh ideas on how to save money….so I paid 33 people a few nickels to give me their creative & unique ways to save money.
Be warned, I did not edit any submissions!
1. Hypermile
A way to save a lot of money and gas is hypermileing. One way to hypermile is drive slower. I can only say for my self that by driving 55MPH instead of 65 I save a quarter tank of gas a week. Also keep your tires properly inflated, and keep your RPM’s down. Try to make the car shift smoothly. If you follow these basic techniques you will be surprised how far a tank of gas will get you.
2. Cycling
One of the best tip to save your money and on the on the other hand which is good for the environment is buying a cycle and to good cycling. Cycling is the best exercise and keeps you fit and healthy and saves the penny from your pocket (saves the amount spent for gym and doctor). Cycle is environment-friendly. They do not pollute the air thereby making the environment clean and unpolluted. So search for your nearest bicycle dealer.
3. Buy in Bulk
One of the best ways I have found to save money and the environment is to buy in bulk. Even though I am a single person this works. Larger quantities of a product are usually less expensive than the smaller versions. It is just as easy to reseal a box or bag (most bulk bags are resealable) than to have a lot of smaller bags and boxes around. And the fewer plastic bags and boxes coated with plastic and print, the better it is for the environment.
4. Reuse Coffee Containers
Teachers are always looking for inexpensive crafts for their students. I save my empty plastic coffee containers (Folgers),give them to teachers to reuse for crafts for their classes. They have used them for growing plants and making gifts at Christmas.
5. Recycle Trash
Recycling trash helps save the environment. Segregating it into biodegradable and non-biodegradable is a systematic way to identify items that can be sold as is and recycled such as newspaper, bottles, and plastics. By employing creativity, you can even create a trash item into another and these ideas can even yield cash for anyone.
6. Avoid Plastic
When buying food avoid plastic utensils, straws, etc. Example- Buy icecream in a cone instead of a cup Buy products with the lease amount of packaging and make the difference
7. Unplug Electronics
It is good to unplug electrical appliances when you are not using them. This helps lower your electric bills by using less electricity, which is always good for the environment.
8. Brush w/ Baking Soda
Use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to brush your teeth. Not only will this eliminate using artificial chemicals that may harm the environment (and yourself), but it’s more effective and inexpensive.
9. Cloth Pads (?!)
Instead of buying disposable menstrual pads every month, consider making your own washable cloth pads from flannel or terrycloth. If you normally spend about $7 per month on pads, that’s $84 a year you can save. Not to mention all that plastic that doesn’t go into the landfill. I’ve been using only cloth pads for six years now and haven’t had any problems with leakage or staining on my clothes.
10. Wash with Cold Water
Washing clothing in cold rather than hot water gets your clothes just as clean. This will save you money on your electric bill and waste less energy.
11. Paper Towel Flower Vases
I like to save my empty paper towel rolls and turn them into flower vases. Obviously they don’t hold water, but they look so cute with some easy decorating (using other local things) and my friends love getting them as gifts.
12. Reuse Coffee Cups
If possible, alway reuse coffe cups from 7-11. The money for refill is less and you make use of the cups at least 2 to 3 times.
13. Repurpose Old Clothes
Try not to throw away old clothes instead you can do some recycling work and make it to be a good handcrafted designs for various purposes like screens, floor mats and kitchen waste this way you save money on shopping for screens and door mats because you spend only once and more over if your designs are good u can sell it online this way u solve the recycling process and the energy resources involved in recycling them
14. Turn Off Lawn Mower
Turn off your gasoline powered lawn mower when you are taking a break. You will cut down on air pollution as well as noise pollution. You will save money by not wasting gasoline. Powering down your mower protects something even more precious; curious children.
15. Turn Off Unused Lights
Turn off lights that are not in use. Use energy saving light bulbs that may be more expensive at the store, but will save you money in the long run.
16. Cover Up!
Cover it up! The Windows should be covered in plastic or some other bio-degradable/recycled material. Doors should have draft catchers under each one. Windows should all be freshly caulked. This saves over 20% a month in home energy bills for our family.
17. Go LED of CFL
Forget incandescent light bulbs! Try out the compact fluorescent bulbs and LED lights! These bulbs cost more but they use less energy and last longer than the old incandescent ones! And did I mention they light up brighter?
18. Reuse Cardboard Egg Cartons and….
A way to reuse cardboard egg cartons, lint from the dryer, and the unused wax from candles. Take the lint from the dryer and tightly pack the cardboard egg cartons until the holes for the eggs are completely stuffed. Then in a metal container melt any unused parafin wax that you have laying around. Pour the wax over the egg carton/lint until they are saturated with wax. You now have your own homemade, water resistant, fire starters. Pull off one egg square at a time for use. The one square will burn for about 5 minutes before it burns off, which is usually enough to get a good fire going. This is a GREAT project for scouts to do, as they can collect these materials from family and neighbors, and then they don’t have to buy firestarters for camping trips.
19. Garden
plant your food in your garden by yourselves .the trees will stop the global warming
20. Walk Further
Extend how far you are willing to walk to do errands. If you can walk to more of your destinations, you save money on gas and you also pollute less. On top of that, you get one of the best forms of exercise there is.
21. Get a Reusable Coffee Filter
The reusable coffee filter is a way of saving money and saving the environment. Available for a couple of dollars, the reusable filter allows us to stop buying paper coffee filters. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can dump the grounds outside for compost!
22. Carpool
Assume that a certain number of office goers in an apartment complex or a street have to commute daily to offices and back in the same route. Instead of going separately if they can go in one car turn by turn, this will help reduce air pollution and will save money also at the same time.
23. Cloth Grocery Bags…
Using cloth bags for everyday use is a great environmental help. One large bag for groceries means no plastic. Take one with you to the library to carry books in. Wherever you usually end up using plastic bags…use cloth.
24. Ditch the Car
I leave my car at home and walk short distances. This saves me money on gas, and also reduces the amount of car emissions polluting the atmosphere.
25. CFL FTW
Use CFL bulbs. This will reduce usage of electricity. CFL produces bright light.
26. Jute Bags!
Use jute bag against polythene. Since poly bag is not biodegradable it cause soil pollution. Do not waste paper. Use paper economically so as to save trees.
27. Turn it off!
Turn off your car/bike/truck engine whenever possible as it has not one but multiple benefits. Switching off the engine ensures your car does not over heat, your save gas & if you save gas money, you sve money, you are also helping the environment by reducing the emission of gas in the environment. You do not need to idel your car engine to warm it especially during winters and the engines today do not need a warm-up period, in fact doing that will cause more harm to your engine. So by turning off your vehicle engine for sometime everyday when you drive will help the environment & save you money too.
28. Collect Used Water From Your Washing Machine
You can collect used out water from washing machine and can use for some other purpose..Thus we can save 10 buckets of water daily..Remember water is very precious.. Thank you…..
29. Use a Mug
I would suggest investing in purchasing a few mugs/cups and keeping them both at home and at work. The company I work for used to keep styrofoam cups for everyone to get their coffee, but they got rid of the styrofoam cups and gave all their employees a travel cup that can be used for cold and warm liquids. Obviously at first this was an investment but over time it is much less expensive to use a cup you can wash over and over again. My husband and I also used to use plastic disposable cups but we now make the effort to use a cup/mug that can be washed an re-used. This is great for the environment because there is less trash and in the end saves who knows how much money since a washable cup is really not expensive.
30. Ground The Politicians
I have a suggestion. Let’s ground our politicians and force them to share private jets thus saving taxpayers money.
31. Flex Time
Driving to and from work every day isn’t good for the economy, and it costs you money. Lots of companies, especially larger ones, are willing to let employees set more flexible schedules. If your company allows it, why not work four days a week instead of five. That way, you save one day’s worth of gas every week. In just over a month, you will have saved one week’s worth of gas. In a year, you will have cut the equivalent of 2 months of commuting! That means fewer emissions and less money spent at the pump.
32. Grocery Bag Discount!
Buy reusable grocery bags from your usual grocery or retail stores. Not only do the bags help cut down on plastic usage and landfill space, but they allow you to save money in two ways. First, if you pay for garbage removal, less bags will mean less garbage. And second, some of the stores will give you a small discount for using a store bag with your purchase!
33. Hoard Your Heat
In order to save on your bills here are some tips I have found that work during the winter time. For heating leave the heat on half and only turn it up when you take a shower and then turn it down a little after. Use space heaters in rooms and close the doors this will heat up the room and save money on oil if you turn it down when using these. For electricity when you leave a room for a extended amount of time make sure to turn of the tv and lights or other devices you wont be using for a while.
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