Subscribe to RSSCheap Tricks My Mother Taught Me
With the price of gas, food, electricity (OK, pretty much everything) going up it seems that our budgets are bending till they break. At the very least everyone is becoming more creative with their finances and learning to save money wherever possible. I find myself thinking about all the cheap tricks my mother used to stretch our budget on a family of 6. If you read my article “Going Green before It Was Cool” then you already have 20 cheap tricks courtesy of my mother under your belt. These ideas are, if nothing else, entertaining and if used can be quite practical. Here are 6 more cheap tricks my mother taught me.
Make your own tortilla night: To save money and time my mom would have us make our own tortillas on taco night. She would pre-make the dough: 3 cups flour,2 tsp. baking powder,1 tsp. salt,4-6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or lard, about 1 1/4 cups warm water. Then everyone would take turns rolling out and frying their tortillas. This would not only save money but it would slow my 3 brother’s eating habit down.
Homemade popcorn to ball games: My dad was a high school teach and coach so for family entertainment we would go to ball games. We would get into the games for free and my mom would bring a paper grocery bag filled with air-popped popcorn from home.
Hand-me-downs: I LOVE the idea of hand-me-downs however it is very unfortunate to be apart of the hand-me-down cycle when you are the only girl with a family of 3 boys.
Free Soup at Mc Donald’s: Did you know that if you take ketchup and mix it with hot water it makes tomato soup? If you are hungry and are low on cash you can make a run to a fast food joint and load up on ketchup and hot water. Its mmm, mmm, good!
Following a truck filled with produce (onions, potatoes) does pay off: I grew up in an agricultural community and it was not uncommon to see large trucks filled with potatoes or onions on our rural roads. My mother would follow these trucks and wait for falling produce and stop and pick-up the produce road-kill.
Eating dinner at Costco: My mother loves shopping at Costco. Not just for the bulk food items but for the limitless samples provided by the different vendors. These samples are not just a snack but can be a meal if you play your cards right.
For more cheap tricks: “Going Green before It Was Cool”, “Kids Eat Free”, “Free DVD Rentals”, “8 Free to Cheap Childcare options” and “How to Make Your Own Non-toxic Cleaners”
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